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LETTERS TO A YOUNG TEACHEE 



BY GIDEO^^ F. THAYEE, A. M., 

PKINCIPAL OF CKAUKCEy" HALL SCHOOL, BOSTON, FROiT 1823 TO 1S56. 



[Reprintcci from Barnard's American Journal of Education.] 



.^ A 



liND PROMOTERS 



i^ Feb. 1, 1858. 

method of carii'^^H^^^^^^^^^^^^BEENRv Barnard's 
Education,''^'of^^^^^^^^^^^Hpiber, the lost but 
fourth volume, has recen 
his Journal, in the two yeare since Mr. Barnard undertook it, has contained 
rery important articles, in each of the several lines of subjects in which men are 
Interested whose special attention has been called to any branch of Education. 
Its papers on College Education, — on Public School Education, — on specific 
branches of Study, — on the arrangements of Private Institutions,— on Legislation 
with regard to Education, and on those efforts in Education which looic to th& 
Reform of Juvenile Criminals ; with a series of Biographical and Historical Papers- 
of the first value, — show how wide is the field of the Editor's effort. 

We believe that there is no other Journal of Education on a plan ^■J cuuipte- 
hensive. Yet it is of such size that the discussions of each of the subjects wliieh 
we have named are conducted in more detail by far than in any other Journal ia 
America. A special department,^ devoted to Intelligence, puts in our possession, 
an amount of detailed information which we can not command elsewhere. 

Mr. Barnard has devoted his own time and other means to this A-aluable Jour- 
nal, without stint or hesitation. It has not, however, been pressed upon the com- 
munity with any of that pertinacity which often forces inferior works into eircula- 
ticn. We are sure that its wider circulation will be a great advantage to many 
private interests, and that it ought not to be a pecuniary burden to the Editor.. 
We venture, therefore, to address this note to several gentlemen 5 hoping that we 
may materially enlarge the number of its subscribers. 

The annual subscription is three dollars, the Journal being of page and t3^pe 
which give more reading matter than most of the Quarterly Reviews. The whole 
series together, make a connected work of the first value. 
It is published by F. C. Brownell, Hartford. 

We are. Sir, 

Respectfully, your obedient servants, 

GEORGE B. EMERSON. 
C. C. FELTON. 



EDWARD EVERETT. 
JAMES WALKER. 
HORACE MANN. 
BARNAS BEARS. 
GEORGE S. BOUT WELL. 
ALONZO POTTER. 
A. D. BACUE. 



JOHN P. PHILBBICK. 
JOHN KINGSBURY. 
SAMUEL ELIOT, 
EDWARD E. IIALK. 




LETTERS TO A YOUNG TEACHER. 

BY aiDEON F. THAYEK, A.M., 

FRIKCIPAL OF CHAITNCEY HALL SCHOOL, BOSTON, FROM 1828 TO 1856. 

[Keprintcd from Barnard's American Journal of Education.] 



3A 






By Transfer 

NOV 1 6 Ji*2b 



LETTER I. 

INTEODUCTION. 

Mr. Editor : — In quitting the position of a teacher, which I have 
occupied for over forty years, I find myself not wholly free from the 
feelings that induced the veteran retiring tallov/ chandler to solicit the 
privilege from his successor, of being allowed on dipping days, to go into 
the shop and lend a hand in the prosecution of his long accustomed 
craft. But presuming that such an arrangement might not be satis- 
factory to my successors in the school-room, T ask the privilege of 
contributing some of my notions on the subject of scJiool-keeping, to 
the pages of your Journal. 

I claim little originality of method in the processes I adopted, or 
in the details of my routine of labor, which the ardent and conscien- 
tious teacher would not, as a general thing, find to result from a long 
course of determined efforts in the management and instruction of a 
large school. Still, my younger brethren, however gifted by nature, 
and improved by education and the study of books, and even with 
the advantages which result from the Normal School — that blessed 
institution of modern days — an institution whose aid every indi^ad- 
ual, male or female, who intends to become a teacher, should if pos- 
sible secure, cannot reasonably be supposed to anticipate all the vari- 
ety of mental machinery which it is necessary to put in operation, to 
secure the results at which the educator should aim, in adopting as 
his regular vocation, this important department of human labor. 
He may have a love for imparting knowledge : he may be ambitious 
of writing his name on the roll of fame, side by side with those who 
by the common consent of civilized man, have made the world their 
debtors, by their successful efforts for the improvement of the race. 
Still, something more is requisite — is indispensable to the complete 
success at which every teacher should aim— ;should resolve on at the 
outset of his course. 

It would be almost unpardonable, at this period of the world's his- 
tory, to attempt to show the necessity of education, the value of 



8 LETTERS TO A YOUNG TEACHER. 

knowledge, the woi-th of sound principle, the advantages of self-con- 
trol, the heaven -described requisition of " purity in the inward parts ; '* 
and all those subjects connected with the intellectual, moral, and social 
nature of man, which so propei-ly enter into the school training of the 
youth of our country at the present time. This, therefore, is taken 
for granted ; but, is it equally obvious that the young teacher has 
adopted this sentiment? Has made it the very basis of his action in 
the school-roora ? Has settled it in his resolution or purpose, that all 
these things are to be indissolutely connected with his plan of action ? 
If he has not done this, his programme is essentially defective ; and, 
if he has, the probability is that he will be aided to no inconsiderable 
extent, in the pursuit of his object, by the suggestions that experience 
may make, thus sparing him many a toilsome year of experiment, and 
saving his pupils from the disadvantages of inevitable faikires, and, 
perhaps, from the infliction of unintentional injustice at his hands. 

With these views, and for the satisfaction of still doing something 
in the way of instructing the race, — when I shall no longer be, Sir 
Walter Scott's " tyrant of childhood," — I propose, by your permis- 
sion, Mr. Editor, to furnish a few letters for successive numbers of your 
periodical, addressed to a young teacher, in the hope of aiding, indi- 
rectly, the youth of our country in their efforts to become what that 
country has a right to hope and expect from them, when they shall 
enter on the duties of adult life, and, in their turn, help to shape the 
destinies of their native land, and of the world. 



LETTER II. 

SELF-EXAMINATION AND SELF-DISCIPLINE. 



Having, in my opening letter, very briefly touched upon the general 
subject of school-keeping, I propose now to indicate more particularly 
what steps are to be taken to secure success in the objects at which 
you will aim. And, in my view, self-examination, self-discipline, self- 
government, self-renunciation, to a great extent, comprise the most 
obvious and certain means at your command. These will do more to 
promote the successful management of your school, than any set of 
rules, however well conceived or rigidly enforced. 

To ascertain and explore the springs of action in one's own mind, is to 
obtain possession of the key that will unlock the minds of others ; than 
which nothing is more important in the business you have undertaken ; 
and nothing will give more effectual control over those intrusted to 
your care. And, as this is a leading object with the teacher, and one 
on which his usefulness mainly depends, it should be, first of all, se- 
cured. There are ten persons who fail in school-government, to one 
who fails in mere instruction. The extent of classical and scientific 
preparation is of little moment, where the capacity for government is 
deficient. 

Self-examination, if faithfully carried out, will unfold to you natural 
biases and motives, of which you may now be wholly unaware. You 
may have been drifting forward on the stream of life, like a deserted 
ship on the bosom of a mighty river, heedless of your course, and 
trusting that the right haven would be found at last, without any 
special agency on your part to avoid the shoals and whirlpools, the 
obstructions and rocks, that lie exposed or hidden before you. You 
feel no " compunctious visitings " at this state of things ; for you have 
never been roused to their contemplation. Your attention has never 
been called to an investigation of those ruling influences which, un- 
known to yourself, have hitherto led you onward in time's pathway. 

You have felt no responsibility, for you have acted for yourself 
alone; and being, as you supposed, an exemplar or model to no other, 
have made no effort to alter your course. 

The case is now wholly changed. What you are in motive, princi 
pie, habit, manners, will the pupils under your charge, to a greater 

3 A* 



10 LETTERS TO A YOUNG TEACHER. 

or less degree, become. There may be points exhibited by you be- 
fore your school, which in word you steadily condemn ; but powerless 
and ineffective will be that precept which your example opposes with 
its living force. Hence the necessity of this personal inspection. 
•■'Know thyself" was the injunction of an ancient philosopher; and 
it has been reiterated by many among the wise of modern days. 

Most of those traits which make up what we call character in a man, 
are the results of education as developed not only by the processes of 
school instruction, but by whatever passes before the eye, whatever 
sounds upon the ear, excites the imagination, warms the heart, or moves 
the various 'passions within us; and the more frequently the mind 
falls under the same set of influences, the greater the probability that 
the character will take a stamp conformably to such influences. Hence 
we perceive, although with some exceptions, a marked similarity in 
individuals of the same parentage. But there are traits inherent in 
the human constitution, and widely differing from each other, as 
strongly marked as the instincts of animals, which lead one species to 
seek the air, and another the water, without any teaching whatever. 

The man of nervous temperament will exhibit conduct conformable 
to it ; the phlegmatic, to it. The acquisitive tendency produces' the 
avaricious man ; the taciturn, the silent man. Although the opera- 
tions of these original elements in our species can, perhaps, never be 
entirely reversed, they may, under faithful training, be so qualified as 
to make them subserve the cause of duty and humanity ; for we are 
never to admit that the great Creator made anything but for the pro- 
motion of the ultimate well-being of his creatures. As, on the cora- 
pletion of his six days' work, he saw that " it was very good," we are 
bound to believe that every element in man's nature, whether physi- 
cal, moral, social, or intellectual, was intended to become the instru- 
ment of good in some department' of the great system of things, how- 
ever perversion or excessive indulgence may sometimes produce the 
very opposite effects. To say otherwise, would be like asserting that 
light is no blessing, because it may dazzle or blind the eye ; or that 
fire is a curse, because it sometimes consumes our dwellings or destroys 
our treasures ; or that water is our foe, because it may drown us. 

It being established, then, that ours is a complex nature, and that, 
without an adequate knowledge of it, as existing in ourselves individ- 
ually, we cannot do all in our sphere, of which we are capable, for the 
benefit of our fellow-beings, the acquisition of this knowledge becomes 
our first duty ; and, especially, when we put ourselves in a position to 
stamp an image of our spiritual selves upon those who are committed 
to our influence and our traininir. 



LETTERS TO A YOUNG TEACHER. H 

Our first care, then, in this business of self-inspectton, is to ascer- 
tain whether we have any tendencies or proclivities that militate with 
our highest idea of a perfect man ; whether our motives are loftj, our 
aifections holy, our principles upright, our feelings and tastes pure, our 
intentions unselfish, our habits such as they should be. Every one has 
a beau ideal in his own mind ; and, if we fall below it in any of these 
particulars, we are to set about bringing ourselves up to the standard 
we have assumed. 

In this great work we shall need aid beyond ourselves. In fact, 
self-love will be continually blinding us, or leading us astray from a 
strict and righteous judgment ; and, to enable us to be just, we must 
as constantly seek for aid where only it is to be found. 

Having, then, ascertained the defects in our character, our next step 
is to impose that self-discipline which reformation requires. It may 
be difficult, — it doubtless will be ; but the result will be worth more 
than its cost. The work must be commenced in strong faith, with an 
unyielding will ; and a resolute perseverance will achieve the victory. 

Have you doubts as to how you shall begin upon the new course ? 
Phrenology teaches that every organ has one antagonistic to it ; and 
that by exercising it, and suiFering its opposite to lie dormant, the 
former will enlarge, and the latter shrivel for want of exercise. 
Take a hint from this. Have you discovered that your motives 
centre in self? Seek every opportunity for benefiting others, even at 
some personal sacrifice. Have you found yourself indulging . in any 
passion ? Cultivate a feeling of gentleness and forbearance. Put 
yourself in the way of meeting provocation, that you may learn, by 
practical experience, to resist the temptation to the evil. Have you 
detected a love of ease, or of inaction, or indolence? Xerve yourself 
to a vigorous attack upon the propensity or hahit, if it has already 
become such, assured that, if continued, it will prove fatal to every 
noble purpose. Have you accustomed yourself to speak ill of others, 
or encouraged slander or gossip in your associates ? Resolve to check 
it where you can, whether in the domestic circle, or abroad among 
strangers ; and resolve, as a general rule, to be silent where you can- 
not commend. If others are unjust to you, be forgiving and generous 
to them. If the cost or inconvenience be great, the discipline will be 
all the better and more useful. It is by such trials that the character 
is to be improved and perfected. It was not sleeping on beds of down 
that prepared the men of '76 to endure the unutterable hardships of 
those days ; but a long and severe training in the rigorous school of 
adversity and self-denial. It is the wielding of the heav}^ sledge that 
imparts vigor to the arm of the smith ; while the same brawny limb, 
coiifined iii a sling, would soon wither into imbecility. 



12 LETTERS TO A YOUNG TEACHER. 

Thus, then, sire you to treat propensities and habits, and every sin 
or defect, which you find besetting you or opposing your progress 
towards the standard you have set up for your own attainment. 

A discipline like this terminates at last in that self-conquest so im- 
portant in every situation of life, and is of unspeakable advantage to 
him who is the guide of the young in the beginning of their career. 

The importance of self-government has been proverbial from the 
days of Solomon. It enables its possessor to make the best use of 
his powers under any circumstances that may arise. It decides the 
contest between two individuals, in other respects equal, declaring for 
him " who ruleth his own spirit." Nay, it comes, in lieu of intel- 
lectual power, in the dispute, and secures the victory to him who is 
in other respects the weaker man. It is highly useful in every sphere ; 
and, in that of the teacher, is in requisition every hour of every day. 

The last of these elements of preparation is self-renunciation, or 
self-sacrifice, a state of mind the most difficult to reach, and yet the 
noblest of all ; for it was the leading characteristic in the Great 
Teacher — the purest, safest model for every other teacher. 

You will, very naturally, in the outset of your pedagogical course, 
feel jealous of your authority and dignity, and require a deference 
and respect from your pupils, which, if withheld or rendered tardily, 
you may be disposed to resent or make the occasion of severe disci- 
pline to the offender. It is fitting that this point should not be neg- 
lected ; but be not hasty to act or to adopt extreme measures in such 
a case. Assure yourself first that disrespect was intended. The low 
state of manners at this day is notorious. In many families, of good 
standing in the world, it is a subject that scarcely comes within the 
cognizance, or, apparently, the thought of parents. The children are 
not trained to observe the courtesies of civilized society, but actually 
grow up like the untutored savage of our western wilds. If any re- 
finement exists around them, they are somewhat affected by it ; but 
they do and speak as others — leading individuals in the families — do. 
Hence, many a noble-spirited boy enters the school-room practically 
unconscious of the claims of the teacher to any token of respect from 
him, that had never been required around the hearth-stone of his own 
home. Consequently, his manner may be rough, his tones loud and 
coarse, his language ill-chosen, his carriage clownish, even on his first 
introduction to the teacher. Should such a one come under your 
observation, judge him not hastily ; check him not harshly. There 
may lie within that repulsive exterior the best elements of our nature ; 
and he may be wholly unconscious that he has infringed any of the 
laws of civility. Ascertain, therefore, the facts in the case, before 
you arraign him for his delinquency. 



LETTERS TO A YOUNG TEACHER. ]3 

Every variety of temperament, too, may "be found among your 
pupils. The merry, the daring, the timid, the artful ; one, so overrun- 
ning with fun and frolic, that he commits many a breach of good 
manners quite involuntarily ; another, easily excited by passion, 
answers rudely, under its impulse, when, in his sober judgment, he 
would stand self-condemned, although his pride might forbid his 
acknowledging his fault. 

Cases will be continually occurring to test the principle of self-sacri- 
fice within you ; and well will it be for your own happiness, and better 
still for your pupils, if you shall have so firmly established it, as to 
enable you to endure from them, for a time, what you would, perhaps, 
be disposed, if coming from others, to consider an insult. 

But do not misunderstand me. I would have your pupils behave 
with strict propriety ; would have you enforce it as a rule. My 
object in these remarks is to guard against precipitate action ; nay, to 
prepare you to carry the martyr-spirit into your government, when 
the welfare of the children shall require it. The mother sometimes 
comes to her knees before her offending child. The spirit that dic- 
tates such an act should move the teacher in cases demanding it. 
Cases so extreme would rarely occur in school ; but when they do 
happen, he should be prepared to meet them in this maternal spirit. 

When the first Napoleon had an object to gain, whether it was the 
carrying of a bridge, the taking of a city, or the subduing of a king- 
dom, difficulties did not daunt him, nor the cost in men or treasure 
cause him to waver in his purpose. The only question was, " how 
many men will it cost ? " and they were detached for the service. 
With a similar determination, but for a far nobler end, the teacher is 
to ask himself, " what amount of labor, what degree of personal sacri- 
fice, will it require of me to save this child?" The question being 
solved, the generous effort is, with Bonapartean promptness, to be 
commenced. The debasing passion is subdued ; the repulsive habit 
reformed; the evil tendency put in check, — and the boy is redeemed! 

Do you ask m.e if this is the preparation for keeping school ? I 
answer, the course I have recommended comprises the initiatory steps. 
They are the most necessary ones of all ; first, because they involve 
the highest good of a human being ; and, secondly, because they come 
not within the scope of the examination of school committees, either 
at the time the teacher receives his certificate of competency to take 
charge of a school, or at the public examinations, when he appears 
before the people, to prove or disprove the accuracy of the com- 
mittee's written opinion. 

I am well aware of the check that this perversion of the relative 



14 LETTERS TO A YOUNG TEACHEK. 

value of things among School Committees, must have a tendency to 
impose on the ardor of a joung teacher of high aims ; and how great 
the danger to discouragement that he must have to encounter as he 
anticipates the non-appreciation of his acquirements in 'his school of 
self-discipline, among those who are to be his publicly constituted 
legal advisers or directors. Still, I cannot consent that he should 
lov/er his standard. If he adopts the teacher's vocation as a perma- 
nent one, these things will be needful to his complete success ; and he 
should be ambitious, foi the benefit he may confer on his pupils, as 
well as for his own fame, to leave such marks of his training and 
careful instruction on their feelings, habits, and principles, as will 
show to the good and wise that he measured his duty in the school- 
room by a standard more lofty, more grand, than that which is satis- 
fied with a moderate acquaintance with grammar, geography, and 
arithmetic. These in their order. I would not derogate an iota from 
their true value ; but I would have, without any compromise what- 
ever, those things take the first place, on which the character, integ- 
rity, moral worth, and that happiness which springs from pure foun- 
tains, and which is alone worth striving for, depend. 

The teacher who conscientiously believes this, and has made a 
faithful efibrt to fit himself to carry out the views presented in this 
letter, is worthy to mould the rising race, — to fit the embryo men to 
become voters under a free government, to become legislators capa- 
ble of making wise laws, and upright magistrates to execute thern. 

Such teachers the republic emphatically needs. ' Such must be had, 
if we would perpetuate the glorious institutions of our Heaven-favored 
country. Prosperity in commerce, in wealth, in power, in fame, in 
population, is of little value, if there be not a foundation in some- 
thing more substantial — more enduring ; if, in short, public and 
private virtue be not the grand basis — " the stability of our land." 

The foundation of all practical education must be in the depart- 
ment of morals ; and this should be insisted on by all supervisors of 
schools throughout the land. Teachers should be examined in this 
as " the principal thing ; " and, if found deficient, whatever their 
attainments in science, should be rejected. It is full time that some 
practical use should be made of the doctrine assented to by all, that 
the moral and social nature should be educated ; and this can be best 
secured by engaging the services of persons who have made it a 
matter of particular attention. 



LETTER III. 

MANNERS. 

BefoPvE attempting to illustrate the principles laid down in mj 
May letter, and show their application to the business of the school- 
room, I will devote one letter mainly to the subject of manners ; a 
subject scarcely inferior in importance to that of morals themselves. 
Morals form the basis of human character ; but manners are its deco- 
rations, and aids to its developments. Morals are the staple of human 
laws, the grand regulators (or should be) of human governments; 
manners are their gildings, which tend to soften their asperities, and 
win a more ready acquiescence in their observance. Morals are the 
solid bullion, forming the foundation of the currency of a community ; 
manners, the small notes or coins, ever ready for use, and without 
v/hich the business intercourse of mankind must cease, or retrograde 
to the condition of things that existed in the world's infancy. In fine, 
morals are the sun behind a cloud, which, though giving light to the 
world, lacks the genial force of its shining face : manners are the 
agencies that displace the cloud, and reveal the glorious orb in all its 
Original power. 

We hence perceive an intimate connection between the two. Nei- 
ther is complete in itself. One is the complement of the other. 
They should not be separated. Morals divorced from manners, would 
be cold and repulsive ; united to them, they become attractive and 
pleasing. While manners, unasoociated with morals, degenerate into 
hypocrisy — furnishing an illustration of the " whited sepulchre'' of the 
New Testament. 

Let it be understood, then, that in speiiking of manners, civility, 
courtesy, or politeness, — for I shall use them synonymously, — I allude 
to them as having a right foundation, and as belonging to moral duty. 
They give a charm to social intercourse, which nothing else can sup- 
ply. This is a fact universally admitted ; and yet one that seems 
to be less practised upon, in each succeeding year of our nation's 
history. 

It was once a sufficient guaranty for gentlemanly manners, that the 
individual had been reared by respectable parents. This is now by no 
means a conclusive inference. Family training, in many instances, — 



16 LETTERS TO A YOUNG TEACHER. 

perhaps in a majority, — has fallen into disuse ; and chance, or the 
will of the young, has taken its place. The respect always due to 
parents, to seniors in age, to superiors in station, in wisdom, and vir- 
tue, has so nearly died out in this country, as to have undermined the 
very foundation of that for which I am pleading. For, if from those 
whose claims are of a paramount nature, the ordinary civilities of 
refined life are withheld, it is in vain to expect they will be extended 
to the stranger, encountered in the marts of business, the walks of 
pleasure, or the rounds of general intercourse. 

An apostle, in writing to a young friend, says, in speaking of chil- 
dren, " let them learn to show piety at home," — meaning duty to pa- 
rents, or those in superior relation. Here, then, at home, is where 
the sentiment is to take root, be nurtured, and made to grow. Its 
influence will then go forth with the young, controlling their behavior 
towards others, and checking that rudeness which has become a re- 
proach to our country among the more civilized nations of the earth. 

Since, then, this duty has come to be so much neglected by those on 
whom it naturally devolves, the teacher is to exercise double diligence 
in its inculcation. And, although it may be very discouraging, espe- 
cially at the outset of your teaching, to think that you work single- 
handed, let me entreat you to take courage ; to assure you that, in 
most cases, your efforts will be appreciated and seconded at the homes 
of the pupils. It is not that fathers and mothers do not wish to have 
their children grow up, adorned with the graces, as well as imbued 
with the good morals, properly belonging to a Christian community : 
they are very glad to have this boon bestowed upon them ; but the 
pursuit of business — the accumulation of wealth — engrosses the 
father's attention, absorbs his time, and leaves him no leisure for the 
home instruction of his children. The mother may do what she can, 
but without her husband's cooperation, her best endeavors are often 
neutralized. When, however, she finds the work begun at school, she 
is eager in assisting the teacher to carry out his plans. Ascertaining 
what they are, she strives to enforce them when the children are in 
her presence, and each aids the other in the good work. 

Bat how are the details in this training to be carried into practice? 
To answer this, involves numerous particulars. To teach penmanship 
well, a man must write well himself; to make good readers, he must 
read well ; to make good mathematicians, he must understand well 
the subject. " As is the teacher, so is the school." The aim and 
effort of the man, who would impress the stamp of the Christian gen- 
tleman upon the manners, habits, and character, of each one of his 
pupils, must be to deserve that appellation himself! In proportion 



LETTERS TO A YOUNG TEACHER. 17 

as he merits this, will he succeed in multiplying the copies of so 
desirable a work. 

Let us now ascertain the elements of genuine politeness. The 
counterfeit we should eschew as we would a spurious bank-note. It 
can have no connection with morals ; and it is politeness, as coadjutor 
with morals, which it is our purpose to encourage and promote. 

Politeness, or good manners, th^n, we consider as the offspring of 
benevolence, love, or kindness of heart. Its aim is to make others 
happy ; to smooth down the rough edges and sharp points to be met 
in our collisions with society, and thus to prevent that friction from 
human intercourse which is inevitable without the exercise of this 
meliorating grace. From the uncouth bearing of many individuals, it 
may be deemed impossible, in their cases, to add or develop this 
grace ; and it is admitted that the task will not be a light one. But 
there is a germ of the " raw material " in every human soul ; and the 
business of the educator is to unfold, to form, and direct it. This 
will be difficult or easy, according to the temperament of the respect- 
ive subjects; but, be assured, it is invariably attainable, although not 
in equal degrees. E.very one may be taught, by proper attention and 
needful skill, to write well ; but no human power can make elegant 
penmen of all. Some have an innate incapacity for the perfection of 
the art. So it is with forming the manners. Still, this should fur- 
nish no excuse for omitting the attempt. The effort is all the more 
necessary. When Lowell Mason, nearly thirty years ago, introduced 
instruction in vocal music into the school with which I was then con- 
nected, in trying the voices of the pupils, he discovered that some 
possessed very limited vocal power — capable of sounding no more 
than three notes of the scale ; but he did not turn them aside, saying, 
— as had been the practice with his predecessors in teaching the art, 
— that " they had no voice, and could never make singers ; " no ; he 
said, wisely, that they needed instruction and training so much the 
more, that their natural deficiencies might be, to some extent, counter- 
acted; and the result proved the soundness of his judgment. In six 
months they had nearly doubled their power, and could sound, some 
five, some six notes. 

Some persons are, apparently, horn ladies or gentlemen, and require 
little or no direction from others. Some, with an intuitive faculty of 
imitation, take on the most agreeable and finished manners, from 
being surrounded by suitable examples. Others, of an easy and good- 
natured temperament, float on under its influonce, securing the good 
will of their associates, quite unconsciously and without effort. 

3B 



18 LETTERS TO A YOUNG TEACH EB. 

But a large majority of children, at the school-going age, are (to 
borrow Addison's idea) like the marble in the quarry, and need the 
hand of the polisher to develop their latent capabilities. 

Impressed, then, with these truths, I would say to you, my young 
brother, let the Courtesy of the Heart distinguish your whole deport- 
ment — when instructing a class, as well as when in private conversa- 
tion with their parents or others ; at home and abroad ; in your own 
study, and at the public exhibition. Have not one code of manners 
for the fireside or the school-room, and another for company ; except- 
ing in the degrees of deference which different ages and stations de- 
mand. These are recognized and claimed by the hand-book of our 
divine religion. Never lose your self-respect, your good language, 
your temper, nor your philanthropy. To do either of these would 
undo the beneficial efiect of a long course of verbal instruction. 

Many young men, at college and elsewhere, away from the restrain- 
ing and refining influence of the gentler sex, acquire ungainly habits, 
which they afterwards continue to practise, perhaps unconsciously, 
even when they have become teachers, — such as throwing the chair 
back and causing it to rest on its two hind legs ; putting the feet, 
raised breast-high, on the desk or form in the school-room ; cutting 
and scraping the nails in company, &c., very much to the scandal of 
the profession, and highly derogatory to the delinquents. I need not 
say how ill-bred, how disgusting such habits are. 

Few persons, of ordinary reflection, need be in doubt on any point 
of good or ill breeding. When a common instinct or sense of propriety 
fails to settle the point in your mind, the example of the individual 
among your acquaintance, of acknowledged taste and refinement, may 
be relied on as a safe guide. 

Although conventional usage fixes a certain standard of civility for 
its own observance in almost every country, there are certain laws of 
courtesy, that are universal among civilized nations : one of which is, 
to avoid doing whatever may ofiend the taste, delicacy, or feelings, of 
the company in which we are. Another, to do what will contribute 
to the happiness, pleasure, or innocent enjoyment of one's associates. 
A third, to waive, for another's comfort, any little gratification to 
ourselves. He who is not prepared to adopt, for his own guidance, 
these fundamental rules of genuine politeness, will fail to rise to any 
considerable eminence among the truly polite, and must present to 
others but a poor model for their imitation. 

There is a prestige in the very bearing of a man of genuine good- 
breeding, which every one feels on entering his presence. I remem- 



LETTERS TO A YOUNG TEACHER. 19 

ber to have heard an illustration of this, many years ago. Grovernor 
Everett, of Massachusetts, widely known as an accomplished gentle- 
man, frequently visited a primary school in the City of Boston, when 
every pupil evinced, by his deportment, that he felt the influence of 
the Governor's courteous manners, even before he spoke ; and on one 
occasion a little pupil said to the teacher, after he had withdrawn, 
" Miss Brown, I always feel just as if I must keep bowing, when that 
gentleman comes into school." 

It has been said, and often written as a copy-slip, for the last fifty 
years or more, that " Amiable manners adorn correct morals." And 
that " A man's manners form his fortune." They do more : before we 
have ascertained whether a man possess any morals or not, his manners 
have already made an impression on our minds and feelings. Stranger 
though he be to us, our opinion of him is formed, either of favor,, 
indifference, or dislike. We may do him injustice. He may be repul- 
sive in his exterior, and yet a man of sterling merit ; while, on the 
other hand, with all the graceful externals of a gentleman, he may 
be a knave. There is no infallible rule in the case. One thing, how- 
ever, is certain : he is not more likely to be unworthy for being agreea- 
ble ; and his manners are always considered as a recommendation. 
They are like well-known coins of acknowledged value, current at 
every counter ; while stern integrity, destitute of external grace, like 
bills of exchange without an endorser, are slow to be accepted. Time 
usually does all men justice ; but before some individuals have, by a 
long course of good conduct, proved to others their real worth, the 
tide in their affairs which leads to fortune has begun to ebb, and the 
flood may not again return. 

Further. Good manners are not merely a selfish good: they 
please and gratify others. They generate confidence and allay irri- 
tated feeling. The mother, how ill-regulated soever her own children 
may be, points to those of her neighbor, who are well-bred, as pat- 
terns for their imitation ; while, the man of self-discipline, struck hj 
their charm, endeavors to reproduce them in his own demeanor. 

The manifestations of good manners, in the many trifling particu- 
lars which they involve, are so insignificant, individually considered, 
as to almost forbid their introduction into this letter ; but as it may 
fall under the eye of some of those who are to be ultimately, if not 
directly, benefited by the views herein presetnted, I will venture — 
though with some misgivings — to present a specimen. 

The bow, among most of the civilized nations of the world, is a 
common token of respect and courtesy, although it is sometimes used 



20 LETTERS TO A YOUNG TEACHER. 

merely as a sign of recognition among familiar acquaintances. In 
the rural portions of our own country, it is considered a synonyme for 
manners, in boys, as is courtesy, in girls ; and the good dame says to 
her sons, on the entrance of a visitor, " Make your manners, chil- 
dren." It formerly was, also, a synonyme for remrence in the same 
connection. 

It has been spoken of as one of the most potent ceremonies current 
among men ; and truly it may not, in its consequences, be easily over- 
rated. It is an act whose significance every one comprehends, and 
secures, at sight, the compliment it deserves. Nay, it is not too much 
to say, that to a well-timed and graceful bow, many a lad has been 
indebted for his position and distinction among men ; and it will ever 
continue to be so, as long as civility is appreciated by mankind, and 
this continues to be one of its acknowledged expressions. 

Perhaps this is founded on a principle in the human mind, that may 
be deemed selfish — the bow being a manifestation of respect or cour- 
tesy to the individual receiving the salutation ; or it may be a feeling 
of gratification that the youth is thus entering for himself on a course 
that will conduct him to respectability and honor. Whatever the 
cause, the effect is certain ; and it were to be wished that the efforts 
of teachers might lead to a more general observance of the practice in 
question. 

Macklin, in his Man of the World, makes Sir Pertinax speak of it 
as the very pledge of thrift ; acknowledging that his success in life 
had been owing, almost exclusively, to the omnipotent " boo," as he 
gave it. While our own Franklin encourages a similar idea, in his 
lessons to young men, on success in the world. And Shakspeare, by 
Hamlet, introduces the same thought in his speech, where he says, 

" And crook the pregnant hinges of the knee, 
Where thrift may follow fawning." 

But if it were observed as a hollow ceremony alone, to secure good- 
will and lay the foundation of fortune, I should consider it contempti- 
ble, and unworthy a young, frank, and generous mind. 0, teach not 
the unsophisticated beings under your care, anything so foreign to the 
purposes of your holy office ! 

I wish to speak of it in a simpler and a better sense — merely as an 
expression of politeness or deference. And, however obsolete it may 
have become with a portion of our young people, I say, let it he re- 
vived — especially at school ; on entering or leaving, on receiving or 
giving anything. Let it, also, be observed at home, in the street, in 
company ; wherever, in short, personal communication is held with 
others, or another, by word or action. To ladies, to teachers, to gen- 



LETTERS TO A YOUNG TEACHER. 21 

tlemen in advanced life, let the hat be lifted wholly from the head ; 
with others, a touching of the hat will suffice, or — if on perfectly 
familiar terms with the person saluted — the touching of the hat may 
be omitted. 

These distinctions should not be forgotten. A few specimens of 
the "good old English gentleman" and of the well-bred men of our 
own country of the Washington stamp, yet survive, who exemplify 
the grandeur and gracefulness of this style of manners. Would there 
were more, and that we could arrest the rapid decadence of their 
practice ! 

There is no one thing, in itself so trivial, that would tend more 
powerfully to arrest the tide of rudeness that is sweeping over our 
land, and carrying our character for respectability away with it, than 
the reestablishment of this ancient token of good breeding. 

Along with this, I would insist on the addenda of sir and ma'am 
(or madam), in conversation with persons to whom they properly be- 
long. An observance of this is indispensable to the preservation of 
the various grades and classes of persons in their appropriate spheres. 
I am not speaking of castes in our community, — I repudiate the idea, 
— but of those divisions marked by nature itself, so necessary to be 
preserved, and on which the permanent welfare of our people, in a 
great measure, depends. 

These two ceremonies restored and continued in use among us, 
would reintroduce a class of individuals into our community, which 
once formed a most interesting connecting link between childhood and 
youth or early manhood, but which, of late years, has followed in the 
track of the " lost arts " — boyhood and girlhood having been practi- 
cally expunged from the natural series or stages of life ! 

It is a failing to observe the injunction, " not to think more highly 
of himself than one ought to think," that has foisted upon us this 
evil. Kushing to secure the best seats at a public table, appropriating 
to self the most desirable accommodations in a public vehicle, smok- 
ing in presence of others, without ascertaining whether agreeable to 
the company or not — and even when ladies are present : — these are 
some of the natural consequences of the new civilizatimi. Wearing 
the hat in the house, engrossing the conversation in company, sitting 
while their elders are standing, impatience or greediness at table, ap- 
propriating personally some delicacy intended as a compliment to a 
guest or honored friend present, omitting those little attentions and 
courtesies, which give such an indescribable charm to the social meal,. 
— which are all found in the well-bred man's code of table manners^ — 
are among the minor fruits of the system of " Young America." 



22 LETTERS TO A YOUNG TEACHER. 

These things should be noted, deprecated, and corrected. By 
making them subjects of specific instruction in school, you will confer 
a lasting and important benefit on the community among whom you 
labor, while you make your own intercourse with the young a source 
of continually-increasing satisfaction to yourself. 

The countenance of the teacher should wear a benign, or, at least, a 
calm aspect, that it may not contradict the gentle or courteous lan- 
guage he uses in his intercourse with his school. The salutations at 
meeting in the morning, and the adieus at parting, should, always 
when practicable, be practised by the teacher. They tell on the heart 
not less than on the manners of the young. Compare the families of 
those where this practice is regarded, with those where it is neglected. 
I need no other advocate than this comparison, for its observance, 
among all of even moderate discrimination. The contrast presented, 
is attraction and repulsion; beauty and deformity; refinement and 
barbarism. 

Politeness is not only for all times, but for all persons ; is not to 
be wholly neglected in the intercourse even of school-children. Some 
liberties may very properly be indulged in among them, as familiar 
acquaintances, but these must have their limits ; and such intimacies 
will be profitable or injurious in proportion as this direction is ob- 
served or disregarded. 

In the conjugal relation, too, particular attention should be given 
to it ; nor do I consider the remark out of place here, although the 
object of these letters is to reach the young of the school-going age, 
through the agency of the teacher. Cicero would have boys taught at 
school those things which they are to practise as men. The rule 
applies to youth of both sexes ; and when a life-union shall be formed 
between any two of them, — I care not how much of love or admira- 
tion they mutually feel, — there must subsist a sufficient degree of 
reciprocal respect to secure a courteous demeanor, or affection itself 
will die out. Let the young cherish this idea, if they would realize, 
in the future, their previous dreams of connubial happiness. 

Servants have a claim to our civility, and it has become proverbial 
that the true gentleman is known, when away from home, by his 
deportment to this class of persons. 

I have, in these remarks, adverted principally to the boys under 
your charge ; but, as far as they are applicable to the other sex, I 
would have them applied with the utmost stringency. More delicate 
and refined by nature, there is less occasion for such lessons to them. 
Still, all coarseness in a girl or young woman is a thousand times 
more repulsive than when exhibited by one of our own sex. — There is 



LETTERS TO A YOUNG TEACHER. ' 23 

one point that I may not pass over here. I have spoken of the self- 
forgetfulness to be practised, and the small personal sacrifices to be 
made to others, particularly to ladies and elderly persons, in travel- 
ling ; and I grant that, with comparatively few exceptions, among 
those who travel much, there is little room for complaint against 
those who consider themselves gentlemen ; and this oflFers an encour- 
agement to the teacher, that those whom he is now striving to mould, 
may, as they assume their place among men, present a just claim to 
that title. The point that I wish to introduce here is this : Through- 
out New England, such a degree of deference is usually extended to 
Woman, that there are individuals of the sex who claim, with no doubt- 
ful expression, certain privileges from our sex, which every right- 
minded man will be always ready most cheerfully to yield, but which 
he is not so willing to surrender at command. In our lecture-rooms, 
in public travelling conveyances, there is an essential difference in the 
quality or convenience of the seats. A man appropriates a large 
amount of time, in going early, that he may secure the wished-for ac- 
commodation. One of the other sex comes in, an hour afterwards, it 
may be, and expects that he will surrender the seat to her at discre- 
tion. He does so ; but, instead of acknowledging his civility by word 
or look, she lours upon him with a countenance full of indignation or 
offended dignity, most emphatically expressing the idea, " You are 
very impertinent to keep me standing so long in the aisle ! " 

Every day, gentlemen give up desirable seats in railroad cars, and 
stand till a vacancy occurs ; or take an outside seat in an omnibus, to 
accommodate a lady within, while a toss of the head, indicating impa- 
tience that they did not make the movement more readily, is the only 
return for the civility ! Now, I would have boys taught to practise 
the very extreme of courtesy — to forego the better for the poorer 
accommodation, in favor of a lady ; but it is the bounden duty of the 
recipient to express, in civil terms, her appreciation of the kindness 
in such case. This, therefore, is the lesson I would have taught to 
the girls — or those that occupy the place that girls fo?'merly held in 
schools — by the learning and practising of which only, they can ex- 
pect to secure their prerogative, or prove themselves worthy the kind 
consideration of man. Let it be remembered that she has no legal 
claim to this advantage ; that its surrender is a free-will offering on 
the altar of politeness ; that, therefore, the return — the simplest and 
most obvious on her part — can be nothing short of a courteous word 
of thanks or acknowledgment, endorsed by a kindly expression of 
countenance. By this, the civility of the man is felt by him to be 



24 LETTERS TO A YOUNG TEACHER. 

fully repaid, and he has hence every encouragement to persevere in 
his agreeable duty. 

I am aware there are numerous exceptions to this mode of receiv- 
ing these trifling favors ; that there exist many examples of all that 
is elegant in manners, charming in expression, and fascinating in tone, 
amono- our accomplished women ; but still a false notion prevails with 
so many others, as to render it important to present the matter as I 
have done to your attention. 

There are few positions in life which furnish so many opportunities 
for the exercise of good breeding, as travelling. Innumerable occa- 
sions occur for removing petty annoyances, promoting the comfort, 
and adding to the satisfaction of others, which the amiable voyager 
will not fail to notice and embrace, exciting fellow-travellers to simi- 
lar acts, increasing the sum of human enjoyment, and proving an 
authentic claim to the title of a true gentleman. 

The late Daniel Webster was remarkable for this ; and numerous 
are the anecdotes related of him illustrative of the fact. Persons 
familiar with the routes between the seat of government and Boston, 
during the last thirty or forty years, can state how often the tedium 
of the journey has been enlivened and charmed by the genuine polite- 
ness of the great statesman. Every man cannot be a Webster ; but 
no one is destitute of the ability to be civil and kind, whenever the 
disposition exists. There is a wide difference in men in regard to 
refinement of feeling and sensibility to the wants and claims of oth- 
ers ; and on this will ever depend complete success in the art of being 
agreeable, and of ministering to the wants and comforts of fellow- 
beings. 

This, therefore, claims your especial attention. A training in the 
minute particulars, which perfect and constant good manners involve, 
should form a part of the labors of every hour while you are in the 
presence of your pupils ; and this to be persevered in to the close of 
life's toils. The mark which you will thus assist to impr^s on the 
successive classes of your school, will be ineffaceable, and continue a 
glorious monument to your fidelity, long after your mortal part shall 
have been committed to the tomb, and the undying spirit shall be 
transferred to the immediate presence, and be beatified by the benig- 
nant and unfading smile, of Infinite Love. 



LETTER IV. 

HABITS. 



Teachers, like men of all other vocations, are subject to human 
infirmities; although, in judging them, this consideration is often 
overlooked. Hence, the increased importance of that self-control 
which has already been urged on your attention. In our own days, 
as well as in those of Goldsmith, it is a melancholy fact that the 
state of mind in which a teacher enters his school-room, and begins 
the duties of the day, is but too often the foretokening of the day's 
occurrences ; 

"As coming events cast their shadows before." 

O, furnish no just cause to have it said of you, 

"TVell had the boding tremblers learned to trace 
The day's disasters in his morning face." 

Let your habits be regular. I mean as to your diet, amount of 
sleep, exercise, &c. Your temper of mind, your feelings, your nervous 
system, will depend essentially on this; and these will afi'ect your 
school-room operations. Some persons, with iron constitutions, are 
able, for a time, to live recklessly, and yet escape the immediate 
infliction of the legitimate penalties. They are, however, in their 
cases, only postponed : their sin will find them cut. But, with few 
exceptions, school-teachers have not the bodily vigor to withstand the 
effects of irregularities of living. They either enter on the profession 
before the muscular system is hardened into maturity, or, under a 
confinement to which they had not been accustomed, they usually 
impair the strength they brought to it, and thus quicken into life those 
infirmities so fatal to success. I am not speaking of habits of a 
criminal nature ; but of those to which worthy, moral young men, 
from inconsideration, are very apt to become addicted — and this, as 
they think, in a good cause. For example : they feel a deficiency of 
knowledge in some science they are required to teach, or they wish 
to pursue their investigations in some favorite study ; and, aware that 
the quiet hours of night are most favorable to their purpose, they 



26 LETTERS TO A YOUNG TEACHER. 

draw on those hours to such an unreasonable amount, as to leave but 
a very inadequate portion to meet the claims of the drowsy god ; 
which claims can never be met but in kind — no substitute being, by 
Nature's unyielding laws, ever admitted. This, then, is the first 
and great requisition — a liberal amount of sleep, and taken as regu- 
larly as practicable. Any degree of knowledge, procured at the 
sacrifice of needful sleep, is too dearly purchased ; especially by him 
whose days are to be devoted to the instruction and training of the 
young. 

Many persons have tried the experiment of living without sleep, 
or of showing with how small a portion they could live ; but, if they 
have not died under the trial, they have so impaired their physical 
powers as to have made the latter part of their lives a burden — full 
of ails and of nervous annoyances. 

It is true, that Napoleon, while in his career of conquest, dashing 
like a meteor over half of vanquished Europe, lived for months 
together with, but a very few hours of sleep in the twenty-four ; and, 
during a large part of his time, in the saddle. But he was a man of 
extraordinary vigor of body as well as of mind ; possessed an indomi- 
table will, and a fixedness of purpose that knew no aspect but success. 
Reared in the camp, proof against exposure to the elements and to 
hardship, he was a model that few could successfully emulate ; and, 
by no means, a suitable one for your fraternity. 

Next to sleep, I would speak of food ; a liberal supply of which, 
and that of a nutritious character, I deem indispensable to health and 
usefulness. I am aware that opinions differ on this point ; but expe- 
rience and observation prove the affirmative of it. The well-considered 
laws of health, founded upon the structure and natural desires of 
a human being, testify to it. I say a liberal supply ; I do not mean 
a quantity unreasonable in amount or variety. I repudiate the idea 
of excess. Gluttony may claim as many victims as Intemperance. 
There is a rational course, which every one who carefully considers 
the subject may easily ascertain. Let it but be deemed of sufficient 
importance to secure attention to it, and the evil will be avoided. 

On this point, I speak from feeling as well as from conviction, I had, 
associated with me in school, for eight years, one of the best men, and 
most successful teachers, that it has been ray fortune to know. It 
was Clement Ddrgin ; and I am glad of this opportunity of placing 
his name on record, where it may meet the eyes of his many friends, 
in connection with a slight tribute to his memory and his worth. It 
should have been done long ago, by an abler pen : it could not have 
been performed by a warmer frien^. 



LETTERS TO A YOUNG TEACHER. 27 

Mr. Durgin was a self-educated man, and he did the service well. 
He far more nearly verified the common remark of school-boys, *' He 
knows everything," than many of those who are distinguished by 
college honors of the first, second, or even third degree. He was a 
universal student ; not of printed books merely, but of the great book of 
Nature — not sealed to him, but ever open, and read with understanding 
and perpetual delight. The pebble, the tiny wild-flower, the buzzing 
insect, the downy moss, the magnificent tree, the singing bird, — all 
created things, animate and inanimate, were subjects of his contem- 
plation, and furnished him with lessons which enriched his school 
instructions, while they attuned his mind to harmony and love. 
Always equable and self-possessed, he seemed to have imbibed the 
influence of the Source of kindness, the Giver of all wisdom. He 
was devoted to Natural Science, and to all science, not only from their 
intrinsic attraction, but from a laudable ambition to he somethino:, and 
to do something, in the world. His lectures and addresses, orations and 
poems, — for he was no mean poet, — evinced knowledge, judgment, 
patriotism, and taste, of which many young men would have been 
proud. Patient of labor, and willing to oblige, he was called on to 
devote many an hour, after his day's school-toil was over, to the 
preparation of literary performances for lyceums, anniversary occa- 
sions, temperance societies, national holidays, &c., to which he 
always cordially responded, and which he successfully performed. 

These proved a fatal temptation to him. Unwilling to present any- 
thing not worthy of himself and the occasion, or that should fall below 
the anticipations of his friends, he bestowed much care and time upon 
them, and these at the expense of needful rest and bodily exercise, 
crowning his error with abstinence from suitable food. Having an 
idea that his intellect was clearer when but little food was in the 
stomach, he indulged sparingly in eating, and abandoned the use of 
solid animal food altogether — taking, instead, vegetables, fruit, and 
pastry, with a little milk. For a short time, he found he could write 
with more facility and readiness ; but nature soon revolted, demand- 
ing a supply of nourishment which his newly-assumed diet did not 
furnish, and which was needed all the more from his accumulated 
mental labors. This demand was not complied with, or acceded to 
too late; and he fell into a decline, from which no curative treatment 
could restore him, and died of rapid consumption, a few months after, 
at the early age of thirty-one years — a victim to too rigid a system 
of dietetics, and too small an allowance of sleep and bodily exercise. 
And yet, so far as man could judge, with the capacity of fulfilling the 
three-score and ten years assigned as the lifetime of a human being. 



28 LETTERS TO A YOUNG TEACHER. 

His ashes repose amid the quiet shades of Mount Auburn, the 
trustees having accorded a small triangular lot for the purpose ; and 
on the tablet of his monument is inscribed the following epitaph : 

" Clement Durgin, associate principal of Chauncy-Hall School, 
Boston. Born, Sept. 29, 1802; died, Sept. 30, 1833: a student and 
lover of nature, in her wonders, he saw and acknowledged, and through 
them adored her beneficent Author. His life was a beautiful illustra- 
tion of his philosophy ; his death, of the triumph of his faith. 

" His pupils have reared this monument, as an imperfect memorial 
of their grateful affection and respect." 

The loss of a life so valuable to myself, to the profession, and to 
the community, I have unceasingly mourned ; and cannot but cherish 
the hope, that others, influenced by similar tendencies to his, will take 
warning from this melancholy example, and be just to the claims of 
their physical nature, as well as to the aspirations of the nobler part ; 
remembering that man is a complex being, and that to neglect the 
wants of either of the two principal elements is certain eventually to 
destroy or impair the power of both. 

I have here, incidentally, introduced the subject of exercise; but 
wish to say a word more upon it, and particularly on the mode of taking 
It. Exercise derived from swinging dumb-bells in your chamber, or 
from splitting wood in a cellar, is of but little use. It will quicken 
tne flow of the blood, and, consequently, warm the system ; but more 
than this should be aimed at, that the mind may also have a share 
in the benefit sought for. Choose a place, then, if you can, where the 
scenery is attractive, and the objects are such as to make you forget 
yourself, and the reason of your being abroad. If you are favored 
with a locality that furnishes a water view, seek that, and you will 
not want for incidents of interest. If, instead, you have hills, or 
mountains, or forests, they will furnish you with agreeable subjects for 
reflection, and tend to call you out of yourself, and away from the 
petty cares of the school-room, or the gossip of the village — a matter 
of no inconsiderable importance. That sleep is sweetest and most 
refreshing, which is taken with the mind in a quiet state, destitute of 
cares or disturbing thoughts, which generate unquiet dreams : so 
exercise, enjoyed without the intrusion of distracting thoughts, or of 
objects foreign to the scene around, is not only most agreeable and 
recuperative, but that alone which is worth the having. 

Exercise should, if possible, be taken in the daytime, in the broad 
sunlight. Everything that grows needs this. The esculent that 
sprouts in your cellar has no vigor, no greenness, no flavor ; it needs 
the air and the sunshine to give it these. Fishes that are found in the 



LETTERS TO A YOUNG TEACHER. 29 

pools of caves, where the beams of the sun never smile, are destitute 
of eyesight. It is the light and warmth of the sun that cheer, embel- 
lish, and bless. Make it a point, therefore, that your exercise may 
be truly useful to you, to take it, as here indicated, under circum- 
stances as advantageous as possible ; but be sure, at all events, to 
secure daily a needful amount of it. 

Attention to these suggestions will do more than anything else 
within your ability to present you, each day, to your responsible 
charge with that preparation so indispensable to complete success. 

In the opening chapter of Ernest Linwood, the last work of my 
lamented and highly-gifted friend, Mrs. Caroline Lee Hentz, a 
description of a school scene, in the early days of the heroine of the 
book, is given, so true to life, and to the practices in the schools of forty 
or fifty years back, that I hope I shall be pardoned for transcribing a 
portion of it. If it be objected that this is a work of fiction, my reply 
is, that such scenes were formerly common in our schools ; and, I 
grieve to say, are not wholly obsolete at the present day. 

" "With an incident of my childhood," begins the book, " I will 
commence the record of my life. It stands out in bold prominence, 
rugged and bleak, through the haze of memory. 

" I was only twelve years old. He might have spoken less harshly. 
He might have remembered and pitied my youth and sensitiveness, 
that tall, powerful, hitherto kind man, — my preceptor, and, as I 
believed, my friend. Listen to what he did say, in the presence of 
the whole school of boys, as well as girls, assembled on that day to 
hear the weekly exercises read, written on subjects which the master 
had given us the previous week. 

" One by one, we were called up to the platform, where he sat 
enthroned in all the majesty of the Olympian King-god. One by one, 
the manuscripts were read by their youthful authors ; the criticisms 
uttered, which marked them with honor or shame ; gliding figures 
passed each other, going and returning, while a hasty exchange of 
glances betrayed the flash of triumph, or the gloom of disappoint- 
ment. 

" ' Gabriella Lyun ! ' The name sounded like thunder in my ears. 
I rose, trembling, blushing, feeling as if every pair of eyes in the hall 
were burning like red-hot balls on my face. I tried to move, but my 
feet were glued to the floor. 

" ' Grabriella Lyun ! ' 

" The tone was louder, more commanding, and I dared not resist the 
mandate. The greater fear conquered the less. With a desperate 



30 ' LETTERS TO A YOUNG TEACHER. 

effort I walked, or rather rushed, up the steps, the paper fluttering la 
my hand, as if blown upon by a strong wind. 

" ' A little less haste would be more decorous, miss.' 

" The shadow of a pair of beetling brows rolled darkly over me. 
Had I stood beneath an overhanging cliff, with the ocean waves dashing 
at my feet, I could not have felt more awe or dread. A mist settled 
on my eyes. 

" ' Read ! ' cried the master, waving his ferula with a commanding 
gesture, — ■' our time is precious.' 

" I opened ray lips, but no sound issued from my paralyzed tongue. 
With a feeling of horror, which the intensely difhdent can understand, 
and only they, I turned, and was about to fly to my seat, when a 
large, strong hand pressed its weight upon my shoulder, and arrested 
my flight. 

" ' Stay where you are ! ' exclaimed Mr. Regulus. ' Have I not 
lectured you a hundred times on this preposterous shamefacedness of 
yours ? Am I a Draco with laws written in blood, a tyrant scourg- 
ing with an iron rod, that you thus shrink and tremble before me ? 
E-ead, or suffer the penalty due to disobedience and waywardness.' 

"Thus threatened, I did read,-— one stanza. I could not go on, 
though the scaffold were the doom of my silence. 

" ' What foolery is this ? Give it to me ! ' 

" The paper was pulled from my clinging fingers. Clearing his 
throat with a loud and prolonged hem, then giving a flourish of his 
ruler on the desk, he read, in a tone of withering derision, the warm 
breathings of a child's heart and soul, struggling after immortality, — 
the spirit and trembling utterance of long-cherished, long-imprisoned 
yearnings. 

" Now, when, after years of reflection, I look back on that never-to-be- 
forgotten moment, I can form a true estimate of the poem subjected 
to that fiery ordeal, I wonder the paper did not scorch and shrivel up 
like a burning scroll. It did not deserve ridicule. The thoughts 
were fresh and glowing, the measure correct, the versification melo- 
dious. It was the genuine offspring of a young imagination, urged by 
the * strong necessity ' of giving utterance to its bright idealities — the 
sighings of a heart looking beyond its lowly and lonely destiny. Ah ! 
Mr. Regulus, you were cruel then. 

" Methinks I see him, hear him now, weighing in the iron scales 
of criticism every springing, winged idea, cutting and slashing the 
words till it seemed to me they dropped blood, then glancing from 
me to the living rows of benches, with such a cold, sarcastic smile ! 
******** 



LETTERS TO A YOUNG TEACHER. gj 

" Had I received encouragement instead of rebuke, praise instead 
of ridicule, — had he taken me by the hand and spoken some such 
kindly words as these : 

" ' This is very well for a little girl like you. Lift up that down- 
cast face, nor blush and tremble as if detected in a guilty act. You 
must not spend too much time in the reveries of imagination, for this 
is a working-day world, ray child. Even the birds have to build their 
nests, and the coral insect is a mighty laborer. The gift of song is 
sweet, and may be made an instrument of the Creator's glory. The 
first notes of the lark are feeble, compared to his heaven-high strains. 
The fainter dawn precedes the risen day.' 

" ! had he addressed me in indulgent words as these, who knows 
but that, like burning Sappho, I might have sung as well as loved ? 

" I remember very well what the master said, instead of the imag- 
ined words I have written. 

" ' Poetry, is it ? — or something you meant to be called by that 
name ? Nonsense, child ! — folly, moonbeam hallucination ! Child, 
do you know that this is an unpardonable waste of time ? Do you 
remember that opportunities of improvement are given you to enable 
you hereafter to secure an honorable independence ? This accounts 
for your reveries over the black-board, your indifference to mathe- 
matics, that grand and glorious science ! Poetry ! — ha ! ha ! I began 
to think you did not understand the use of capitals, — ha ! ha ! ' 

" Did you ever imagine how a tender loaf of bread must feel when 
cut into slices by the sharpened knife ? — how the young bark feels 
when the iron wedge is driven through it with cleaving force ? I think 
/ can, by the experience of that hour. I stood with quivering lip, 
burning cheek, and panting breast, my eyes riveted on the paper, 
which he flourished in his left hand, pointing at it with the fore-finger 
of his right. 

" ' He shall not go on ! ' said I to myself, exasperation giving me 
boldness ; ' he shall not read what I have written of my mother ! I 
will die sooner ! He may insult my poverty, but hers shall be sacred, 
and her sorrows too ! ' 

" I sprang forward, forgetting everything in the fear of hearing her 
name associated with derision, and attempted to get possession of the 
manuscript. A fly might as well attempt to wring the trunk of the 
elephant. 

" ' Really, little poetess, you are getting bold ! I should like to see 
you try that again ! You had better keep quiet ! ' 

" A resolute glance of the keen, black eye, — resolute, yet twinkling 



32 LETTERS TO A YOUNG TEACHER. 

with secret merriment, — and he was about to commence another 
stanza. 

" I jumped up with the leap of the panther. I could not loosen his 
strong grasp, but I tore the paper from round his fingers, ran down 
the steps through the rows of desks and benches, without looking to 
the right or left, and flew, without bonnet or covering, out into the 
broad sunlight and open air. 

" ' Come back, this moment ! ' 

" The thundering voice of the master rolled after me like a heavy 
stone, threatening to crush me as it rolled. I bounded on before it, 
with constantly accelerated speed. 

«* Go back — never ! 

" I said this to myself. I repeated it aloud to the breeze that came 
coolly and soothingly through the green boughs, to fan the burning 
cheeks of the fugitive. At length, the dread of pursuit subsiding, I 
slackened my steps, and cast a furtive glance behind me. The cupola 
of the academy gleamed white through the oak trees that surrounded 
it, and above them the glittering vane, fashioned in the form of a giant 
pen, seemed writing on the azure page of heaven. 

" I cast myself, panting, on the turf, and, turning my face down- 
ward instead of upward, clasped my hands over it, and the hot tears 
gushed in scalding streams through my fingers, till the pillow of earth 
was all wet as with a shower." 

In the sequel of this story, the child is forgiven, and the teacher 
confesses that he had been unkind, pleading that he *' had been previ- 
ously much chafed, and, as is too often the case, the irritation caused 
by the ofiences of many," as he said, "burst forth on one, perhaps the 
most innocent of all." 

Here, then, is the lesson of this letter. Strive to adopt such a 
course of life as will enable you to keep the feelings and passions 
under control. Avoid all occasions of angry excitement ; and endeavor, 
on entering your school-room, to leave spleen behind, lest it be vented 
on the innocent, and you yourself suffer the mortification and regret 
of being unjust to those you are bound to protect, to guide, and love. 

The illustrations I have given, both from fact and fiction, unite in 
enforcing the same idea. They both show the sad consequences of a 
mistaken course, on the actor and on those interested in or connected 
with him. 

Other lives are yet to be sacrificed under similar impulses, and 
other teachers to lose their character and their dignity, when they 
yield the reins to impatient emotion. 



LETTER V. 

PUNCTUALITY, 



I MAY seem to you to have lingered unnecessarily long in the field 
of moral preparation for the work you have before you; but I am, 
continually, more and more convinced that the highest objects of 
school education are to be secured by reflecting upon this element in 
your vocation, and fixing the principles and indicating the plans of 
action to be adopted when entering on the scene of actual labor. 

Tbis letter I propose to devote to the consideration of some miscel- 
laneous points, in pursuance of the idea above suggested ; and, in my 
next, to take up some one of the subjects of specific school study. 

In my September letter, I condemned the course of Mr. Kegulus, 
not only because he lost his self-control, but because he employed sar- 
casm and irony in his discipline ; and this, too, to a sensitive young 
girl. These should never be used in school government. They wound 
the heart of sensibility deeply and permanently. They exasperate 
the sufi"erers and their associates, exciting in them a spirit of hostility, 
which it is hard to allay. And, although, in general, the pupils range 
themselves on the side of the injured party, there are usually not 
wanting some among them, who, from envy or other malign feeling, 
are prone to add their ridicule of the supposed delinquent, to the 
infliction already imposed ; thus indulging a spirit of malice as mean 
as it is unchristian. — They are ungenerous. The suflerer is entirely in 
the power of the master, compelled to endure, without even the priv- 
ilege of making a reply ; and, consequently, demanding his considera- 
tion and forbearance. 

Far better is it to treat every one with an excess of tenderness, than 
that a single delicate spirit should be crushed by a sarcastic expression. 

I would not overrate the degree of tender feeling in school chil- 
dren ; it is seldom fairly estimated by those who have not been long 
familiar with them. It exists naturally in a very imperfect state. 
With both sexes it is the fruit of cultivation. Girls, being more pre- 
cocious than boys, e:$:hibit its indications earlier in life, and with more 
intensity. A large majority of our own sex, during the school age, 
evince it but rarely, and then in a slight degree. 

3 C 



34 LETTERS TO A YOUNG TEACHER. 

In the perplexing trials of the school-room, you will sometimes be 
disposed to plead with your school, that they give you their more con- 
stant cooperation in the eflforts you are making for order and progress. 
Your own sensibilities excited, you become pathetic in your appeals. 
Most of your audience are attentive while you are speaking ; some 
are evidently interested, and you imagine that you have effected a 
general conversion. You dismiss them, — and the loud laugh and 
merry shout at your pathos, soon convince you that your effort has 
been thrown away ; at least, on the great mass of your auditors. 

It will doubtless shock you, at first, to notice with what unconcern 
they look upon the most flagrant acts of impropriety in their fellows, 
as they come up for correction ; or their indifference at still more 
serious ills. The school-house burns down ; domestic affliction or per- 
sonal illness confines the teacher at home. Does the boy weep or 
manifest any concern ? No ; he rejoices in a holiday or a vacation 
that the event confers upon him ! The germ of sensibility exists 
within him ; but it is to be developed and cherished, or it will lie dor- 
mant, as — left to themselves — do the other faculties and properties of 
the mind, and every sacrifice will be made on the altar of selfishness ! 

Let not this view of the material on which you will have to act 
cause you to despond. Study carefully, that you may understand, boy- 
nature. Look upon it calmly, and take courage ; remembering that, 
although, when acting in masses, these embryo men are little affected 
as you desire them to be, yet that there is not one among them who 
may not be moved to good issues, if taken apart with you alone, and 
the effort made upon him individually. All the weapons of the boy- 
nature are at once laid aside, and he yields in dutiful submission. 

Boys think it brave to oppose their seniors in public, even when 
they know them to be in the right ; and sometimes the fear of ridi- 
cule impels them, in the presence of others, to resist the best impulses 
of the mind. ^^ Dare to do right " is a good motto for every human 
being, and should be kept constantly before the young. 

To " understand boys " was, in the opinion of Dr. Arnold, master 
of the famous Kugby School, in England, a primary qualification in a 
teacher, and one on which he placed great stress. It was this — in 
which he himself excelled — that aided him immensely in the govern- 
ment of his school. He was generous in his treatment of his students, 
bestowed on them his confidence, and, in doubtful cases, gave them the 
benefit of the doubt, and thus excited in them a sentiment of magna- 
nimity, which made them his friends and coadjutors. In adopting his 
example, you may sometimes award a degree of merit not justly due 
to your pupils ; but the balance of good will still be in your favor. 
If overrated by you, their pride or self-esteem will incite them to an 



LETTERS TO A YOUNG TEACHER. 35 

effort to become all that you suppose them to be ; while a suspicion 
expressed of low desert will produce the very opposite effect. 

The so-called " minor morals " should be ranked by teachers at a 
higher grade. Among these stands punctuality. In this it is impor- 
tant that your practice be positive. Proximate punctuality is no vir- 
tue. To be at your post a few minutes after the appointed time, will 
not meet the claims of duty. John Kingsbury, of Providence, R. I., 
the present president of the American Institute of Instruction, stated 
in public, a few years since, that, during the twenty -five years that he had 
been a teacher, he had never been tardy but once, and then but a sin- 
gle minute. And Mr. Libbey, a veteran teacher at Portland, Me., 
stated, in reply, that " he could beat that." It is hardly necessary to 
inquire as to the success of such teachers. Fidelity and exactness 
like this are a satisfactory guaranty for the quality of the schools. 
Hundreds of the honored matrons of the city of Roger Williams are 
the living testimonials to the merit of the school where they and 
their daughters were educated ; and the universal confidence reposed, 
in the venerated teacher of Portland is evidence enough for his. 

Punctuality is a good indicator of habits and character. You may 
reasonably expect that a man habitually practising it is systematic, 
orderly, and exact in his business transactions, prompt and upright in 
his dealings, and just in his various relations with society. It is a 
fact worthy of note that most of the benefactors of the world, whose 
history has come down to us, have been remarkable for their observ- 
ance of 'this duty. 

In your engagement with the school-committee, by whom you are 
employed, certain hours are appropriated to school instruction. Let 
no affair, personal to yourself, interfere with the claims of your pupils. 
Every moment will be needed by them in the various studies they 
attempt. He who takes school hours for reading his newspaper, carry- 
ing on his private correspondence, receiving calls of ceremony, or mak- 
ing arrangements for the evening party, is unjust to his charge, and 
will inevitably fail of success in his calling, lose the approbation of 
his employers and of his own mind, if not ensure the execration of 
the young beings whom he specially defrauds. 

Strive to open your school, and close it, at the appointed hours. 
This will promote punctuality among your scholars, and encourage 
them to be constant in their attendance. But if any one desires or 
needs more instruction than the six hours of school-time afford, — 
although it be " not so nominated in the bond," — fail not to yield a 
portion of your own time to the wishes of these ambitious or needy 
ones. A thousand considerations will arise in your own mind to re- 
ward the act, and the good you will thus confer will yield you a richer 



36 LETTERS TO A YOUNG TEACHER. 

than a golden harvest. The man who stands, watch in hand, waiting 
for the hour of twelve to arrive, and then precipitates his school into 
the highway, whether a reasonable amount of instruction have been 
given or not, mainly bent on escaping from the walls of his school- 
room, can have but a low conception of the duties of his office, and 
must be wholly destitute of the spirit of the true teacher. Yet such, 
and not a few, do cumber the school-houses in some of our towns and 
villages. 0, that we might have a general expurgation of them 
throughout the land, for the benefit of the rising generation, and the 
honor of the teaching fraternity ! 

Much depends on first steps. On assuming the position of a school- 
master, therefore, you should have well determined in your own mind 
what you propose to aim at and to accomplish — should have your 
course well defined, both as respects the thing to be done, and the 
mode of doing it. And, without attempting anything in the way of 
class instruction, on the morning of presentation to the school, the 
time would be profitably spent in an address to them, couched in 
familiar language, but delivered with an easy dignity of manner, in 
which you would state what you propose to do for them in the con- 
tinuation of any good course on which they had entered, introduc- 
ing to them such other subjects as would be interesting and useful, 
whether concerning the mind, the manners, the morals, or the afiec- 
tions. In unfolding the value of these various departments of their 
future labor, you would find it advantageous and interesting to them 
to intersperse your statements with such illustrations as might be in 
point, which, if graphically given, they would be sure to remember in 
connection with the subject ; and, at the close, ask them how they 
like your plan, thus drawing them out, securing their confidence, and 
preparing them for active cooperation. You would naturally tell them 
that the term would soon pass away, and that you wished them to 
make all the improvement of which they were capable, in the time ; 
that this would be expected by their parents, by the committee, and 
by you. You would assure them of your friendship, your encourage- 
ment, and your assistance ; telling them, at the same time, that yours 
would be a working school, and that their happiness in it, as well as 
the amount of their attainments, would depend on their diligence, 
their fidelity, and the temper of mind in which they should come to 
school from day to day ; — that you would endeavor to be gentle, pa- 
tient, and kind ; but that it would be very difficult for you to be always 
so, unless each one should strive to do his duty — to do right ; — that 
you should require a strict attention to order, and to all the rules of 
the school ; confident that, without this, there could be no progress, 
and no couiCort in the new relations which hud then been formed. 



LETTERS TO A YOUNG TEACHER. 37 

You would, also, insist on regular and constant attendance at the 
time appointed, showing thera not only how much the^ themselves 
would lose by absence and tardiness, but how unjust and unkind to 
their classmates and their teacher it would be, to inflict the loss and 
labor upon them, which would be the inevitable consequence of their 
delinquency in these respects. 

An address, in some such style as this, would probably secure their 
attention, excite their zeal, and induce new resolutions to secure your 
approbation. — Let a recess follow. Give the scholars an opportunity 
to exchange thoughts on what has been said to them ; and, if a favor- 
able impression have been made, this intercourse will confirm and 
deepen it. 

The classification and seating will occupy the remainder of the ses- 
sion, perhaps the whole of the day. No matter — " make haste slowly " 
is a good maxim. The success of the term will depend mainly on 
securing a right start. With your best uninterrupted efforts you will 
be unable, in a school of strangers, to make an unexceptionable organ- 
ization at first ; but, by devoting a reasonable portion of time to the 
eflfort, you will have the less to undo. 

Tell the scholars that, as soon as you shall have become acquainted 
with them, you intend to establish a " merit roll," and that you cherish 
the hope that all, or with few exceptions, will have a claim to the 
front rank. Tell them that you want them all to become good schol- 
ars, but that your highest approbation will be bestowed on those who 
are the best boys and girls. 

By thus showing them that they all have it in their power to dis- 
tinguish themselves, whatever their scholarship, you may be able to 
enlist a large number of allies in your work, which will hence go on 
all the more prosperously, because adopted cheerfully, or from choice. 

You are now ready for the assignment of lessons. If it can be 
done without confusion, allow the voice of each class to fix their 
length at first, cautioning them against attempting too much, and noti- 
fying them that the amount assigned will be required, when due, thor- 
oughly and perfectly learned. You will thus ascertain how much 
they can master, and save yourself from the murmurs of discontent 
so almost sure to arise from the new teaeher's first tasks. It is diffi- 
cult for one familiar with the minds of his pupils, in all cases to adopt 
judiciously the amount to be acquired at a sitting, by each class; and, 
where the parties are strangers to each other, impossible. A good 
rule is, to require too little, rather than too much. When the teacher 
ascertains by experience what the classes respectively are able to do, 
he can, of course, modify his requisitions accordingly. The mind 
should not, on the one hand, be overtasked ; nor, on the other, have 



38 LETTERS TO A YODNG TEACHER. 

SO little demanded as to permit it to lie torpid, or prevent a vigorous 
action. In this, as in most things else, wisdom points to the middle 
course. Give enough to do to keep the powers bright, but not enough 
to crush or to burden. 

When the lessons have been assigned, question the pupils, to ascer- 
tain whether thej know how to study ; for on this the facility and 
certainty of acquisition, in a great measure, depend. 

If they have had no instruction on the point, show them how. If 
the lesson is one merely memoriter^ it should be studied piece-meal — 
say, to the first period, and then review ; to the second, and then a 
repetition of the first and second ; to the third, and a repetition of the 
first, second, and third, — and so on to the end ; by which process the 
learner holds, as it were by a cog-wheel, all that he gains, instead of 
attempting too much at once, whereby the new portions learned drive 
the former out of the memory. 

If the question of opening your school in the morning, with reli- 
gious exercises, be left for you to determine, you will, of course, decide 
in favor of it. The good efi'ect of it, if judiciously conducted, will 
be felt through the day, and its influence carried beyond the walls of 
your school-room. But let me entreat you not to permit the services 
to be performed in a dull, monotonous tone of voice, as if the whole 
were a mere lifeless formality. If the heart be in it, the manner will 
evince the fact, and the children will feel that it involves a solemn 
reality. If not, it should be omitted altogether ; 

*' For God abhors the sacrifice 
Where not the heart is found ; " 

and your school, instead of receiving benefit, will sustain lasting injury 
in its religious nature, as well as in its estimate of public religious 
services. 

Be careful, in reading the service, — whether it be in a book prepared 
for such occasions, or a prayer-book, hymn-book, or the Bible, — to do 
it with feeling, with appropriate modulation, and all the expression 
that properly belongs to the sentiments uttered. Why some of the 
sublimest compositions that have come down to us should be mur- 
dered, as they not unfrequently are, by those who attempt to read 
them in public, it would be impossible to say ; but let it not be done 
in schools, where the art of reading is professedly taught ; in fact, 
where it is the leading department of attention. There, at least, they 
should Ibe read with propriety and effect. 

If you are endowed with enthusiasm, you are now prepared to com- 
Bcence your work. This is a property as essential to complete success 
iH teaching, ;as any belonging to mind. The individual destitute of it, 



LETTERS TO A YOUNG TEACHER. 39 

would do well to devote his powers to some other field of labor. If, 
however, a degree of it subsists, and a strong faith in its importance, 
it may be increased by culture. The difierence between a school con- 
ducted by a person largely imbued with it, and one who possesses little 
or none, is as the living compared to the dead. 

On the return of Horace Mann from his educational tour in Europe, 
he published, in his Seventh Annual Report to the Board of Educa- 
tion of Massachusetts, the result of his observations ; and nothing was 
more striking than the disparity he pointed out between the Prussian 
schools and those of our own country, in respect to this element of 
power over the young. And although, it must be confessed, there 
seemed to be an excess of it, as it was said to be applied to the teach- 
ing and management of the Prussian schools, yet I have ever thought 
that an infusion of the same spirit into our American modes of edu- 
cating our children, might well be considered as an improvement of 
very great value. 

Enthusiasm in the teacher gives vitality to whatever he says or 
does in presence of the school ; while a heavy, slow, phlegmatic tem- 
perament puts to sleep even the animation of childhood, and crushes 
its buoyancy as with a leaden weight. 

I am well aware that a state of unceasing excitement is healthful 
neither to the body nor the mind ; that both would soon sink under it ; 
that teacher and taught would become its victims. I do not, therefore, 
plead for this. I ask only for the presence of this great principle in 
the man, to be used as a just discretion may dictate. 

Ebenezer Bailey,* a man who stood in the very front rank of good 
teachers, in the city of Boston, a quarter of a century ago, wrought 
wonders with a large school of young ladies, taught by him for sev- 
eral years, through the instrumentality of this power. Scarcely did 
the Prussian mode of recitation and of drill, as related by Mr. Mann, 
exceed what might with truth be said of Mr. Bailey's school. The 
latter had not the violence, the almost fierceness of manner, witnessed 
in the Prussian schools ; but for earnestness, for intensity of thought, 
and breathlessness of action, — nothing feminine in the human form 
could go beyond them. 

* Mr. Bailey had been very successful in the public service, before the estab- 
lishment of his private school ; first, as principal of the reading department 
of the South school, and subsequently as that of the high school for girls. This 
latter excellent and very popular school, having been abolished in the mayor- 
alty of the elder Quincy, on principles of a very anti-republican character, Mr. 
Bailey wrote an able pamphlet, addressed to the mayor, denouncing the measure 
in scorching terms. And when he, soon after, proposed opening a school of a 



40 LETTERS TO A YOUNG TEACHER. 

He would arrange a class of ten or twelve around a black-board, 
and, writing a problem on it, would put them upon their speed in its 
solution. Each, with slate in hand, would begin, the moment she had 
caught the idea, to solve it, the object being to obtain the answer in 
the shortest time. She that succeeded first called out one, the next, 
two, and so on to the last. This fixed their relative rank. The classes 
were usually well matched ; and, as the excitement was continued but 
for a short period at a lesson, it was one of the most interesting exhi- 
bitions of an intellectual race that can well be imagined. The rapid- 
ity with which the calculations were made, and the figures marked 
upon the slates by the several competitors, memory even almost refuses 
to declare. Suffice it to say, that one might travel far, and examine 
many schools, without finding a parallel in these respects. And this 
example is given as illustrative of the operation of this quality in the 
hands of a skilful teacher. 

It is not my intention to assert that there are now no schools equal 
to Mr. Bailey's. This would be untrue ; but I wish to keep before 
the mind of the young teacher the important fact, that the pledge of 
success in school-keeping is a well-directed enthusiasm, which this 
school so well illustrated. 

It would be impossible thus to influence a whole school, especially 
of both sexes, of the diversity of ages that attend most of our public 
seminaries. Nor is it desirable to do it with the same scholars habit- 
ually ; but he who is able thus to bring out all of mental capacity that 
a class possesses, has his pupils in his hand, as it were, and may 
mould them as the potter moulds the clay. 

Some school exercises are better adapted than others to secure such 
entire absorption of the attention ; but the enthusiastic teacher will 
never want for expedients to elicit the ardor of the young, and turn 
it to the best accgunt. 

I shall make no apology for having entered into these details ; for 
I am confident they are what the young members of our fraternity 
want. To the teacher of experience they are not addressed : he is 
supposed to be among those who have " already attained." 

similar character, on his own account, large numbers availed themselves of the 
advantage of joining it ; and his annual catalogue, for 1829, gives the names of 
one hundred and sixty-eight pupils connected with it. 

He was a thoroughly educated man, of fine taste and just discrimination. His 
work on Algebra, his Young Ladies' Class Book, and several poems of merit, 
evince the strength and versatility of his genius. He was one of the leading 
founders of the American Institute of Instruction, to which he devoted much 
time, thought, and labor. 



LETTER VI. 



MORAL INSTRUCTION. 



While I was deliberating as to what should be the main topic of 
this letter, I received the annexed circular, which settled the question 
at once : 

"Toledo, 0., Oct. 15th, 1856. 
" Dear Sir : The undersigned having been appointed a Committee, by the 
Ohio State Teachers' Association, to report, at its meeting in December next, 
upon the best method of giving moral instruction in schools, would respectfully 
ask your opinions upon the following questions, with the liberty of making 
them public : 

" What is the comparative importance of Moral Instruction in a system of 
Education ? 

" Should special instruction be given in Morals in our Free Schools? 
" What is the best method of giving Moral Instruction in School? 
" You will do us a great favor by answering the above inquiries at your ear- 
liest convenience. 

" Please direct to John Eaton, Jr., Toledo, 0. 

*' Very respectfully, yours, &c., John Eaton, Jun., 

m. f. cowdery, 
John Hancock, 
John Robinson." 

It is gratifying to those who believe that the great want in oar 
community is a higher degree of practical morality, to find associa- 
tions formed for the inculcation and dissemination of moral truth, 
established in our large towns and cities; public lay lecturers labor- 
ing in the same cause; school-masters insisting more perseveiingly 
upon it; and, especially, to find it engaging the attention of an 
organized body of teachers in a large, intelligent, and powerful State, 
and adopting measures, like men in earnest, for the securing of the 
best results. 

Most cordially will every true man lend his cooperation to the 
cause, in a well-founded confidence that, whatever he may be able to 
do, little or much, he becomes, on easy terms to himself, to such ex- 
tent, a benefactor to society. 



42 LETTERS TO A YOUNG TEACHER. 

With no desire to claim, even in the humblest manner, any such 
distinction, but for my own gratification, I shall attempt to answer 
the interrogatories contained in the circular, to which I but very 
briefly replied at the time of receiving it. Too late though it be to 
subserve the special object of the committee who issued the circular, 
it may not be wholly useless in other directions. 

1. " What is the comparative importance of Moral Instruction in a 
system of Education ? " 

To this question, it seems to me, there can be but one reply ; and 
that is : Moral Education is paramount to all other. The physical 
and intellectual nature should by no means be neglected ; but if they 
are developed, exercised and trained, and the moral nature overlooked, 
or left to take care of itself, the hopes of humanity may sink iu 
despair. 

In the garden left uncultivated, the weeds soon overgrow, and 
choke the flowers and useful herbs. So with the human soul ; if the 
flowers of virtue that spring spontaneously, — and I admit that such 
there are, — be not attended to and cherished, the tares of evil may 
soon overpower and crush them. 

I do not intend to assert that man's nature is wholly depraved. 
As a question of theology, it may not be proper here either to aj0&rm 
or deny it. I will only say that, in the masses of society, the common 
tendency seems rather to be more towards evil than towards good. 
Hence the indispensable necessity of exerting every practicable means 
of counteracting this tendency. 

If the capacities of the mind and body receive the whole attention 
of the educator, the pupil's power for mischief will be all the more 
increased, and he may, and probably will, become so much the more 
accomplished a knave. 

*****«< Talents, angel-bright, 
If wanting worth, are shining instruments 
In false ambition's hand, to finish faults 
• Illustrious, and give infamy renown." 

That talents may be " of worth " (or worthy) in the world, they 
must have this right direction given them ; and this should be done 
in the school period of life. To delay it is unsafe, if not criminal 
and ruinous. 

I will venture the assertion that those ugly excrescences which 
darken the page of history in the lives of Nero, Caligula, Kich- 
ard III., Napoleon I., Aaron Burr, and Benedict Arnold, did not 
enjoy that early moral training, instruction, and example, which 



LETTERS TO A YOUNG TEACHER. 43 

are needful to secure a career of purity, virtue, honor, and patriotism ; 
while, in the examples of Alfred the Great, Constantine, Fenelon, 
Sir Thomas More, Howard, and Washington, we feel that an influ- 
ence, potent and holy, was breathed into them, that helped to make 
them what they were. 

All these individuals have their counterparts in all countries, and 
in almost every school-room, at the present day, — not as to place, 
power, and distinction, but as to disposition. They, hence, are 
growing up to crime, cruelty, profligacy, or perfidy ; or to honor, 
usefulness, benevolence, or virtue ; — advancing to positions in society, 
whence their evil deeds will consign to the grave their broken-hearted 
friends, and their own names to infamy ; or from which a halo of 
light will surround their names, during their lives, for their good 
deeds, and grateful memory bless them after their departure. 

Finally, national probity, honor, and virtue, constitute a State ; the 
State is composed of men ; the men of the next generation are now 
school-boys. What it is desirable to have them become as rnen^ they 
must be taught to be as hoys. Nor is it safe to leave this work to be 
done by the pulpit or the fireside. Every proper means that can be 
brought to bear upon the young, should be put in requisition ; and 
none is more appropriate than, and scarcely any so efi'ective as, the 
well-applied, faithful, and persevering lessons of the school-room. 

From what I have said in answer to the first interrogatory, my 
reply to the second will readily be anticipated. 

2. " Should special instruction be given in Morals in our Free 
Schools?" 

I reply, unhesitatingly, in the affirmative. That it may be found 
more difficult than instruction in literature and science, I am well 
aware ; for, although there are persons of the nicest degree of moral 
perception and moral refinement among our fraternity, there are 
others who, perhaps, might be considered obtuse in the department of 
morals. There are many thousand teachers in the public schools of 
our land, who take the situations as temporary expedients, with no 
intention of becoming permanent in the profession, and who are 
engaged, only for the lack of better, for a period of a few months. 
Their qualifications often fall short of the moral department ; from 
such, of course, it would be useless to expect much on this point, 
whatever the school committee might require. 

But even this should not exonerate them from doing what they 
can. No person should be placed in charge of the young, who has 
not mastered the great principles of morality in theory, nor whose 



44 LETTERS TO A YOUNG TEACHER. 

life does not evince a practical acquaintance with them. The ser- 
vices of better and better candidates should be secured, until those 
fully qualified can be found. Let committees or school supervisors 
insist on the moral qualification as the prominent, leading, and indis- 
pensable one, and the requisition will increase the supply, until, in 
time, the schools will, in most cases, be well provided. 

The Legislature of Massachusetts, long ago, made it a matter of 
legal requisition that certain things should be taught in her public 
schools. The act on Public Instruction, Section 7, reads thus : " It 
shall be the duty of the president, professors, and tutors, of the uni- 
versity at Cambridge, and of the several colleges, and of all precep- 
tors and teachers of academies, and all other instructors of youth, to 
exert their best endeavors to impress on the minds of children and 
youth committed to their care and instruction, the principles of piety, 
justice, and a sacred regard to truth, love to their country, humanity, 
and universal benevolence, sobriety, industry and frugality, chastity, 
moderation and temperance, and those other virtues which are the 
ornament of human society, and the basis upon which a republican 
constitution is founded ; and it shall be the duty of such instructors 
to endeavor to lead their pupils, as their ages and capacities will 
admit, into a clear understanding of the tendency of the above-men- 
tioned virtues to preserve and perfect a republican constitution, and 
secure the blessings of liberty, as well as to promote their future 
happiness, and also to point out to them the evil tendency of the 
opposite vices." 

Thus it will be perceived that, as far as Massachusetts is concerned, 
no public teacher, of any grade, has it at his option to teach morality 
or not; but, as a loyal citizen, he must do it. Well would it be for 
every State in the confederacy to adopt a similar law. 

Teachers are required " to exert their best endeavors " in this work. 
Consequently, it should be kept constantly in view, and not be left to 
chance for its exercise. A time should be set apart for it as regularly 
as for any of the studied lessons of the school ; and at that time it 
should be invariably brought up. 

3. " What is the best method of giving Moral Instruction in 
School ? " 

This question it is not so easy to answer, for the reason that teach- 
ers of experience, with any degree of originality, must difi"er in modes, 
even, of arriving at like results. William B. Fowle, a veteran 
teacher, of great success in his vocation, alluding to his means of 
teaching, in the outline of his school plans, says that he teaches 



LETTERS TO A YOUNG TEACHER. 45 

" Moral Philosophy chiefly by Reading the Scriptures, Conversation, 
and Example." This method, in the hands of a discreet and competent 
teacher, must doubtless succeed yell. Other teachers attempt the 
same thing by rules, by requisitions, and by the study of books pre- 
pared especially for the purpose, like Wayland's Moral Science. 

No one plan should be invariably pursued. Children tire of routine 
and monotony. Variety is necessary, even to the adult mind, to 
secure attention and perpetual interest; and, with children, this is 
still more requisite. Schools, again, differ in their elements. Some 
are composed wholly of young pupils ; others, entirely of those in 
the closing years of school life, — as in the high schools of large 
towns and cities; others, still, are mixed, — ranging from, it may be, 
four to eighteen years of age. Hence, a course of instruction must 
be varied to meet the circumstances of the taught. 

In schools of advanced age, didactic instruction may be resorted to 
with good effect ; and if the pupils are required, a few at a time, to 
bring dissertations, written by themselves, on subjects previously 
assigned, and these be read to the school, and commented on by the 
teacher, and, when time permits, by the other pupils, a spirit of emu- 
lation will be roused, fresh interest excited, and the school generally 
be called to reflection. It is to such that the treatises on morals, 
under various titles, are best adapted. The lessons learned may very 
properly become the subject of a paper or debate, in addition to the 
recitation to the teacher. 

With all grades of schools it is highly beneficial to notice every 
incident that occurs among the pupils, or that is notorious in the town 
or neighborhood, from which a useful lesson may be derived, virtue be 
rendered more attractive, and vice more repulsive. 

Incidents of this nature are suitable to all ages ; and, though they 
be simplified to the degree required by the humblest capacity, will not 
fail, if skilfully related, to secure, to some extent, the interest of all. 

Nor is this peculiar to children. In some Eastern nations, as is 
well known, itinerants earn their subsistence by the narration of 
stories, and, if well trained, hold large audiences, wherever they find 
them, in delighted wonder by their stories, whether fictitious or the 
statement of facts. 

The pulpit, at the present day, is rendered more or less efficacious 
for securing the attention of an audience, moving the feelings, and 
converting the mind, in proportion as it illustrates its positions or 
enforces its logic by the use of narratives. Nay, the Saviour him- 
self evinced how well he knew what was in man, and by what avenues 



46 



LETTERS TO A YOUNG TEACHER. 



he could reach the recesses of his soul, and convince the understand- 
ing, while he touched the heart, by the frequent use he made of par- 
ables in his preaching. The train ^of reasoning may be lost, but the 
story that enforces it abides forever in the memory, as a salient foun- 
tain of encouragement or conviction. 

The teacher should take a hint from these facts. There is, as it 
strikes me, no way by which he can do more for the moral nature of 
his pupil, than exactly to adopt the method above mentioned. Of 
course, his own life and character should show forth the worthy doc- 
trines he inculcates, 

Subjoined are specimens of anecdotes, original and selected, of the 
nature I would recommend for school use. The teacher, by a little 
thought, might collect any number of the kind, and, doubtless, many 
more suitable and of higher merit. 

Let the lesson, for example, be Truth, or the Telling of Truth. 
If the audience be very juvenile, he may relate the well-known 
story of Washington and the Cherry-tree, or something that may 
occur to him of like tendency. If more advanced, or mixed, the 
account of Petrarch and the Cardinal may be presented. And this, 
I may, perhaps, be excused for inserting here, as, although familiar to 
many, it has not been so often presented to our American youth as 
the former has. 

It is this : " Petrarch, a celebrated Italian poet, who flourished in 
the fourteenth century, endeared himself to Cardinal Colonna, in 
whose family he resided, by his strict regard to truth. A violent 
quarrel had arisen in the household of this nobleman ; and the Cardi- 
nal, that he might ascertain the facts in the case, called all his people 
together, and required each one to take an oath on the Gospels that 
he would state the simple truth. The brother of the Cardinal him- 
self was not excused from it ; but, when Petrarch appeared to take 
the oath, the Cardinal closed the book, and said, ' As for you, 
Petrarch, your word is sufficient ! ' " 

I shall never forget the feeling of proud satisfaction for the hero 
of the anecdote, with which I was filled, in first reading, as a boy, 
this charming incident. The Washington story, at a still earlier 
period, had a similar efiect upon me. Hence, I infer that boys at 
the present time would be afi'ected in like manner. 

If I wished to inculcate a spirit of justice and manliness, I would 
relate something like the following : A boy of six years old, at play 
in one of the streets of Boston, accidentally broke a pane of glass in 
a window of a dwelling-house. Without hesitation, he rang the door- 
bell and said to the person who came to the door, " My name is 



LETTERS TO A YOUNG TEACHER. 4Y 

A. L. T ; I have broken your window, and my father will send 

a man to mend it." Receiving a kind word from the person at the 
door, he bowed and ran to his home to relate the case. 

Here is an instance of true courage : A teacher, having received sat- 
isfactory evidence of the guilt of one of his pupils in a case of serious 
mischief, was about to inflict a penalty due to the offence, when 
another boy, of twelve years of age, called out, " 0, sir, don't pun- 
ish William ! He did n't do it ! 'T was /, sir ! " 

As an example of civility and obedience, I would say, A gentleman 

calling at C. H. S , on business, one day, requested a lad at the 

door to hold his horse while he went in. On his return, he offered 
the lad a piece of money, which was courteously declined. The gen- 
tleman insisted, but the lad was immovable, saying, " Mr. T 

would not like it, if I took pay for holding a gentleman's horse for a 
few minutes." 

I say an example of obedience. There was no specific school-law 
for such a case. It was deduced from the law of universal kind- 
ness, which was the summing up of the school-code, and which the 
boy so appropriately applied. 

Here follows a beautiful example of youthful kindness : 

The Disinterested Boy. — The sun had set, and the night was spreading 
its mantle over hill-top, and valley, and lonely wood, and busy village. While 
the winds were beginning to sweep through the trees, lights were here and 
there peeping through the windows, to tell that, though the wind was cold and 
blustering without, there might be peace and comfort within. 

At this hour, Mr. Bradley passed through a little village among these hills, 
and, urging his horse forward as the night became darker, took his way 
through .the main road toward the next town, where he wished to pass the 
night. As he passed the last house in the village, he thought he heard some 
one call ; but, supposing it might be some boy shouting to another boy, he 
thought little of it. He heard the call again and again ; at last, it occurred 
to him that some one might wish to speak to him, and he stopped the pace of 
his horse, and looked behind the chaise to see if he could discover who was 
calling. 

♦' Stop, sir, stop ! " said a little boy, who was running with all his might to 
overtake him. 

Mr. Bradley stopped his horse*, and a little boy of eight or ten years came 
up, panting at every breath. 

" Well, my little fellow, what do you wish for ? " said Mr. Bradley. 

" You are losing your trunk, sir," answered the boy, as soon as he could speak. 

" And so you have run all this way to tell me of it, have you, my good 
boy?" 

" Yes, sir." 

Mr. Bradley jumped out of his chaise, and saw that his trunk, which was 
strapped underneath his carriage, was unfxstcned at one end, so that a sudden 



48 LETTERS TO A YOUNG TEACHER. 

jolt might have loosened it altogether, and he have lost it without knowing 
where it had gone. 

" You are very kind, my little lad," said the gentleman, *' to take all this 
trouble ; you have saved me from losing my trunk, and I feel much obliged 
to you. And now, are you tall enough to hold my horse while I fasten the 
trunk as it should be ? " said Mr. Bradley. 

" 0, yes, sir," said the boy, stepping up, and taking hold of the bridle. He 
held the horse till Mr. Bradley was ready to start, and then said, " Good-night, 
sir," and stepped away. 

" Stop a moment," said Mr. Bradley, taking a shilling from his pocket ; 
*' here is a piece of money to pay you for your trouble, and I feel very grateful 
besides." 

" No, sir, thank you," said the boy, casting his eye full in the gentleman's 
face ; " do you think I would take money for such a thing as that ? " 

"Ah ! " said Mr. Bradley, as he afterward related the story, " 1 saw by his 
noble look that he had run from one half to three quarters of a mile, for the sake 
of doing a kindness to a stranger, and not for the hope of pay ; and I could not 
find it in my heart to urge him to take the money ; for I knew that the thought 
of doing good was a greater reward to him than money could have been. So I 
bade him ' good-night,' and he ran toward home ; while I gave whip to the 
horse, and again rode briskly on ; but I often think of that journey, and the 
noble-hearted boy who lived among the hills." 

The following might be used to show the 

Advantages of Politeness. — An elderly lady, passing down a busy street 
in New Haven, was overtaken by a sudden shower. She was some distance from 
any acquaintance, and had no umbrella. She was deliberating what to do, when 
a pleasant voice beside her said, " Will you take my umbrella, madam ? " The 
speaker was a boy, perhaps ten years old. 

" Thank you," said the lady ; " I am afraid you will get wet." 
" Never mind me, ma'am ; I am but a boy, and you are a lad3^" 
" But perhaps you will accompany me to a friend's, and then I shall not find 
it necessary to rob you." 

The boy did so, and received the thanks of the lady, and departed. 
Two years rolled away. The lady often related the circumstance, and often 
wondered what had become of her friend, but little thinking ever to see him 
again. In the dull season of the year this boy was thrown out of employment, 
and, the circumstances coming to the knowledge of this lady, she gave him a 
good home till March, when she introduced him to a good situation. Verily, 
kindness seldom goes unrequited, even in this world. 

Here is exhibited an instance of gratitude for favors received : 

A Passing Incident. — As a man, of generous heart, from the country, was 
guiding, a few days since, his load of hay to the market, we saw, following him, 
and gathering the wisps of hay which dropped from the load, a poor woman 
and two lads, — the latter of perhaps the ages of seven and nine years. Our 



LETTERS TO A YOUNG TEACHER. 49 

attention was specially drawn to them, by observing that the man frequently 
took pains to throw whole handfuls of the hay down the side of the load, in 
order, as was quite apparent, to convey, in as quiet a manner as possible, sen- 
timents of comfort to the hearts of these suffering poor. As our walk lay in 
the direction of the market, we determined to witness the conclusion of this 
exhibition of sympathy and generosity. By-and-by the gleaning became so 
abundant, that the poor woman could refi-ain from her expressions of gratitude 
no longer ; and, bursting into tears, she beckoned to the man to stop, and then, 
in a manner which indicated both intelligence and a delicate sense of her 
wretched condition, besought him to permit her a single word of thankfulness 
for his kindness. 

"Madam," said the man, "I, too, have been in the vale of poverty, and 
seen the time when a lock of hay would have . been considered a treasure. A 
friend, by an act of kindness, of less value in itself than the one I have done to 
you, saved me from despair, and made me hopeful for better days. Years have 
passed now, and a kind Providence has blessed me with a good farm and a 
happy home. For years, as I have waked each morning, I have seemed to hear 
a sweet voice whispering, ' This day remember the poor.^ " 

As he said this, he raised the fork, and threw in the woman's arms as great 
a quantity as she and the lads could carry, and then drove onward, with a 
countenance expressive of the truth, " It is better to give than to receive." 

We turned from the scene to read again, and with greater profit than ever, 
the story of Ruth, gleaning in the fields of the generous Boaz, and of the kind- 
ness of the reapers to the destitute and successful gleaner. 

The following presents a specimen of lofty magnanimity : 

A Noble Revenge. — The coffin was a plain one, — a poor, miserable, pine 
coffin. No flowers on its top ; no lining of rose-white satin for the pale brow ; 
no smooth ribbons about the coarse shroud. The brown hair was laid decently 
back, but there was no crimped cap, with its neat tie beneath the chin. The 
sufferer from cruel poverty smiled in her sleep ; she had found bread, rest, and 
health. 

" I want to see my mother," sobbed a poor child, as the city undertaker 
screwed down the top. 

"You can't, — get out of the way, boy! Why. don't somebody take the 
brat?" 

" Only let me see her one minute," cried the hapless, hopeless orphan, clutch- 
ing the side of the charity-box ; and, as he gazed into that rough face, anguished 
tears streamed rapidly down the cheek on which no childish bloom ever lin- 
gered. 0, it was pitiful to hear him cry, " Only once, let me see my mother ; 
only once ! " 

Quickly and brutally the hard-hearted monster struck the boy away, so that 
he reeled with the blow. For a moment the boy stood panting with grief and 
rage ; his blue eye distended, his lips sprang apart, a fire glittered through his 
tears, as he raised his puny arm, and, with a most unchildish accent, screamed, 
" When I 'm a man, I '11 kill you for that ! " 

3D 



50 LETTEKS TO A YOUNG TEACHER. 

*' There was a coffin and a heap of earth " between the mother and the poor, 
forsaken child, and a monument stronger than granite built in his boy-heart to 
the memory of a heartless deed. 

The court-house was crowded to suffocation. 

*' Does any one appear as this man's counsel ? " asked the judge. 

There was a silence when he finished, until, with lips tightly pressed together, 
a look of strange intelligence, blended with haughty reserve, upon his hand- 
some features, a young man stepped forward, with a firm tread and kindling 
eye, to plead for the erring and the friendless. He was a stranger, but from his 
first sentence there was silence. The splendor of his genius entranced, con- 
vinced. The man who could not find a friend was acquitted. 

*« May God bless you, sir, — I cannot." 

*' I want no thanks," replied the stranger, with icy coldness. 

"I — I believe you are unknown to me." 

" Man ! I will refresh your memory. Twenty years ago you struck a broken- 
liearted boy away from his mother's poor coffin. / was that poor, miserable 
boy." 

The man turned livid. 

" Have you rescued me, then, to take my life ? " 

" No ; I have a sweeter revenge. I have saved the life of the man whose 
brutal deed has rankled in my breast for twenty years. Go ! and remember the 
tears of a friendless child." 

The man bowed his head in shame, and went out from the presence of a mag- 
nanimity as grand to him as incomprehensible ; and the noble young lawyer 
felt God's smile in his soul forever after. 

The style of .some of these stories may need alteration, but the 
lessons taught in them will commend their adoption to every one. 

In conclusion, I am satisfied that well-selected or original illustra- 
tions of the beauty of the several virtues to be inculcated, with well- 
adapted remarks in addition, by the teacher, will be found most 
effectual in teaching morals in schools, and have, at the same time, this 
advantage : that, if the subjects are judiciously chosen, with due 
regard to diversity, they seldom, if ever, weary the pupil, while they 
furnish his mind with exhibitions of lofty principles of action, which 
will be a valuable moral capital to him to the end of life. 

Postscript. — After the above letter was in type, I received from a friend a copy of Cowdery's 
" Moral Lessons ; " a book prepared to carry out the main branch of the plan for moral instruc- 
tion, which I have endeavored to unfold and recommend 5 and I should do injustice to myself, to 
the author of the work, and to the cause of moral improvement, were I to omit the acknowledg- 
ment of my obligation to him for his successful and appropriate labors. It is to be hoped that 
he will continue the work so well begun, and furnish, as his opportunities permit, an extension of 
these Lessons, — presenting a greater variety of illustrations, and touching an increased diversity 
of priuciples, — to the end that the work may at length become — as it is already, as far as it goes 
— a fall store-house of material for the direction of the young in the formation of habits and prin- 
ciples indispensable to a successful encounter with the temptations to which they will be exposed. 

The teacher himself, too, would render an important benefit to his school and his successors, 
by transcribing, in a book kept for the purpose, every incident or anecdote bearing upon the 
same point, for future use, —that those of this book may not become inefficient, by too frequent 
rei)etition, but, recurring after longer intervals, will retain their freshness and interest, from gen- 
ci'ation to generation. 



LETTER VII, 

SPELLING. 



In 1830, — the year of the inauguration of the American Institute 
of Instruction, — I delivered a lecture before that association, " oa 
the spelling of words, and a rational method of teaching their mean- 
ing." The mode therein recommended had then been in use in my 
own school for ten years or more, and, during my subsequent school 
labors as a teacher, I never had occasion to abandon it, but had the 
satisfaction to know that it was adopted with success in many schools,- 
public and private, in various parts of our country. As the lecture 
in question is nearly out of print, and no copies of the volume con- 
taining it to be had, I shall not hesitate to repeat a portion of the 
ideas it contained on the teaching of spelling. 

There are thousands of persons in society who have never occa- 
sion, during their lives, to apply their knowledge of Algebra, Geome- 
try, Mensuration, Surveying, &c., to practical uses, although it may 
have been acquired at the cost of severe labor, of many a throbbing 
of the brain, and much intellectual despondency ; * but not so with this 
matter of spelling. Whoever has learned to write, must inevitably 
sometimes express his thoughts through the agency of the pen ; must do 
it by language ; of course, must know how to spell. And whatever 
the degree of knowledge he thus unfolds, how finished and beautiful 
soever may be his penmanship, he abates something in his claim on 
our regard if he spells incorrectly. Bad spelling, especially of one's 
native language, is disreputable. Every one is bound to spell with 
accuracy. But what is the true state of the case ? What propor- 
tion of those who have enjoyed the average means of education 
among us, do or can spell their vernacular tongue ? Take the first 

* I would not be understood to derogate in the slightest degree from the 
value of these studies. All, of our own sex at least, should learn them, as 
opportunity presents ; they are highly useful as exercises of the mind, for 
training in exact reasoning, and needful in many departments of business. 
They should, however, be taken in their proper order, and of course should 
follow, rather than precede, the indispensable studies. 



52 LETTERS TO A YOUNG TEACHER. 

fifty persons you meet, of either sex, at any age, and ask of them an 
ofi"-hand page of manuscript ; — if more than one in the whole number 
accomplishes it without a single error in orthography, you will be 
more fortunate than most of our fraternity have found themselves ; 
and, I venture to assert, the result will not be more successful than 
this proportion. Where, then, lies the fault? Is accuracy in Eng- 
lish spelling unattainable ? Certainly not. I grant that it is, of all 
the departments of study attempted in our common schools, the most 
difficult. Still, it may be mastered. It requires only right methods 
and persevering practice. It is one of the first things to be taken up 
where the hook is used, and is to be continued during the whole of 
the school life. 

I w^ould not wholly condemn the use of the spelling-book. It is 
valuable in one stage of the child's progress; but should by no means 
be used exclusively for oral practice. In the primary department of 
our schools but little is attempted, and much time is spent idly on 
the seats. Let a portion of this unoccupied time be employed in 
copying on the slate such lessons from the spelling-book as have been 
assigned to each individual or class. Let this be done, not merely 
that the learner may become familiar with the order of the letters in 
the word, but also with their forms, that he may readily distinguish 
between letters somewhat resembling each other, such as the h and the 
d^ the q and the 'p ; and that he may not fail (as I have known even 
teachers to do !) in the formation of the letters a, m, n, u, v, w, x, t, 
&c., &c., transposing the shade and the hair-line, and even giving the 
wrong direction to the curve of the J, — to the central curve of the 
s, makino; it from the right to the left, instead of from the left to the 
riglit [thus, g] ; and sometimes making the figure <j for the capital 
letter S^! 

The training of the eye is an important part in the business of 
school education ; and you will find no auxiliary more valuable to 
you in your vocation than that of visible illustration. The expert 
draftsman, through the medium of the blackboard, has a great advan- 
tage, in the school-room, over those who cannot draw; and I would 
recommend that every teacher, whether he have little talent or much 
in this art, cherish and cultivate it, as one important means of suc- 
cess in his calling. 

Who, that has had the privilege of listening to lectures from the 
gifted Agassiz, has failed to be impressed by the vividness and beauty 
of his descriptions of animal life and structure, aided by his admirable 
sketches, made with unequalled rapidity and truthfulness, in chalk, 
on the blackboard? 



LETTERS TO A YOUNG TEACHER. 53 

But to return : the pupil more readily acquires the spelling lessons 
by studying them through the practice of copying on the slate, than 
by spelling them over to himself many times orally ; and, as soon as 
he can write or print the words with facility, his recitations, so to 
call them, in this department should be rendered by this method 
alone. To spell by word of mouth, should be confined exclusively to 
beginners, who are unable to write or print with sufficient rapidity to 
make the plan of the more advanced scholars feasible. 

When the children have, by this method, become somewhat familiar 
with the words in the spelling-book, their lessons in orthography 
should be taken from the reading books of their respective classes. 
If these books are well adapted to the capacities of the several 
classes, there will be a gradual progression in the language as well as 
the style of the books ; and consequently an appropriate advancement 
or elevation in the class of words used for the spelling lessons. The 
lessons should be, in length, adapted to the capacity of the respective 
classes — say from a fourth to a whole page of the reading-book; not 
too long, or they will not be faithfully studied, as the only effectual 
method of study occupies considerable time. Let these lessons be 
given every day : nothing short of this will be sufficient to make good 
spellers of all who attend during the school-going age ; and they 
who expect otherwise will surely be disappointed. To give an exer- 
cise in spelling once a week ; to have it an oral one, comprising, it 
may be, one or two words to each scholar, and this without previous 
study, is a complete sham, evidently performed with no purpose of 
improvement, but merely for the name of a spelling lesson. It costs 
but little time, no labor, and is worth — nothing ! To such a prac- 
tice, which obtains in many schools, some of them of lofty pretension, 
and where the " higher branches " are taught, is the wretched defi- 
ciency in this humble but indispensable element of learning owing ! 
Surely, a reform in this direction is loudly called for, even at the 
sacrifice of a share of the " accomplishments " ! 

If your school is so arranged as to have all your classes in one 
room, the lessons might be dictated to the whole in the same opera- 
tion ; thus : the teacher reads from — say the book of iho, first class, 
three words, marking them with his pencil, and then proceeds to the 
second class, and does the same ; and so on till the whole series have 
been served once round. He then returns to the book of the first 
class, repeats the words read before, and adds three more ; goes on to 
the second class again, pursuing the same process, and in like manner 
to the rest, till practice enough has been had, or till all the difficult 
words in the lesson have been given out. The pupils write these 



54 LETTERS TO A YOUNG TEACHEll. 

words on their slates, which are then gathered up, class by class, for 
examination. Every error is marked by the examiner, and, subse- 
quently, the slates are returned to their owners for correction. They 
should be shown to the teacher, after having been corrected, and then 
copied into a book, with the part of speech and the meaning of the 
words as they occur in the lesson added. Much of this work might 
be committed to the charge of advanced scholars — good spellers — 
of careful habits, much to their advantage and to the relief of the 
teacher. 

If the classes occupy separate rooms, there would be a saving of 
time in giving out the words to be spelled, during the reading hour 
of each class; and then dictating but one word at a time, and not 
repeating it, unless misunderstood by a member of the class; a signal 
being given by each one when the word has been written. A large 
number of words may, in this way, be written in an almost incred- 
ibly short time, when by practice a class has become expert in the 
exercise. — I regret here to give a caution against a fraud that is 
sometimes attempted in these lessons ; although when we know that, 
in our most respectable colleges, similar acts of unfairness are some- 
times practised, our mortification is in some degree abated, though 
our grief remains the same. 

Sitting or standing together, boys sometimes, when in doubt of the 
proper spelling of a word, steal a look at a neighbor's slate, and thus 
solve the doubt by taking advantage of another's fidelity in study or 
superior scholarship. Sometimes, too, they have been known to write 
beforehand, on a corner of the slate, or on a small bit of paper, to be 
concealed in the hand, the particularly difficult words that occur in 
the lesson. These and similar dishonest devices, the judicious teacher 
should vigilantly guard against, and, if detected, denounce in a tone 
of stern indignation, — making, of course, all reasonable distinction 
between a first offence and a young pupil, and one more than once 
repeated by an old offender. 

I have spoken of a particular mode of study ; it is this : most 
pupils, before learning spelling lessons from a reading-book, would have 
become familiar with the greater part of the words that occur in a piece 
of ordinary composition, and would naturally infer that all the small 
words, at least, they could spell correctly. Consequently, in some 
modes of study, they would be subject to most unlooked-tbr errors ; 
for it is far from being true that the difficulties in spelling lie princi- 
pally with the long words ; numerous examples to the contrary may 
be easily adduced. The rule, then, to obviate the evil, is, for the 
pupil to write on his slate, or a piece of paper, to the dictation of 



LETTERS TO A YOUNG TEACHER. 55 

another, the whole lesson, — difficult and easy portions, — and, after 
having corrected the errors by the book, or by the aid of some one 
competent to the work, to study upon the words missed until all are 
fully mastered. This having been done before the spelling hour 
arrives, seldom fails to give the pupil the mastery at the time of need. 

This long process may be thought too expensive in time ; but not, 
I think, by those who estimate accuracy in written language at its 
proper value. It should be remembered, too, that the time is not 
spent in merely learning to spell. Great facility in writing with the 
pencil is acquired ; the capacity for writing English composition is 
increased; and a better acquaintance with the style of standard 
authors — from whose writings the selections in our school-books are 
usually made — is secured. Surely, all these advantages ought to 
plead for the adoption of our rule. 

There is a wide difference in the power of the eye, in different 
individuals. Some do not see an error, although indicated by the 
examiner's mark, and will complain that " the word is marked, when 
it is right " ! With such, patience and long practice are necessary. 
Some are naturally good spellers, and need but little study, while 
others require a long-continued and resolute course, to conquer the 
innate defect. I have, however, seldom known one to fail often in 
the daily task, when studied in this way. On the contrary, I have 
had pupils who, after having tried various other expedients, and failed 
of success, come to me and say, exultingly, " I never miss now, sir, 
since I have studied in your way ! " 

Although the operation of the rule should be general, in regard to 
the method of study, individual cases will arise, in which a dispensa- 
tion may be made to advantage, and should be made, in justice to the 
individual concerned. This practice continued for years, by pupils 
with good intellectual powers, right organs, and diligent and careful 
habits, usually gives a success- in orthography reaching to almost per- 
fection — notwithstanding the inherent difficulties in a lano-uage 
which owes its origin to so numerous and great a variety of sources. 
These are they that may be trusted to examine the work of their 
school-fellows, and thus benefit themselves and others, while they 
redeem a portion of the teacher's time for other labors. 

You will not have failed to observe, even in a short experience, 
that certain words are always missed by some members of a class. 
These should, consequently, be given out whenever they occur in a 
lesson. Among them you will call to mind, separate, tranquillity, 
Tuesday, certificate, absence, here, ad., hear, v., there, ad., their, pro.^ 
preceding, conscious, crystal, crystallize, &c. ; and all that class of 



56 LETTERS TO A YOUNG TEACHER. 

words in which ie or ei occur — such as receive, believe, perceive, 
&c. Likewise, words belonging to the class which double, or not, the 
final consonant, on taking an additional syllable beginning with a 
vowel, as wrapped, benefited, omitted, tinned, &c., &c. The persist- 
ence of pupils in errors of this kind, goes to prove the necessity of 
a long-continued course of practice with a large majority, while they 
remain at school. 

The question of a standard of orthography naturally comes up 
here. This may seem to involve the teacher in some embarrassment ; 
but not necessarily. The words are comparatively few as to whose 
orthography scholars disagree ; and, as the books to be used in public 
schools are decided on by the committee or school-board having the 
matter in charge, the teacher has no option in the case. He should 
have an opinion of his own, and express it freely and independently ; 
but he is not responsible for results under the control of his official 
superiors. 

With the teacher of a private school the case is difierent. He 
chooses, for his printed authorities, such books as his judgment 
approves, and is responsible for the consequences. Let him keep 
himself free from partisan bias, and secure the best aids he can find 
for his noble work. 

Every teacher, who is imbued with the true spirit of his profession, 
will state his views frankly, in the course of his instructions, and 
give his reasons for them. This he should do modestly, awarding full 
justice to the books furnished, and to their authors, — mainly desirous 
to benefit the children of his charge, and not to evince a hostile senti- 
ment to any one. 

It is not to be supposed that every teacher in the common schools 
of our land will be, or will consider himself, competent to decide 
independently on the comparative merits of rival books, — each hav- 
ing ardent, powerful, and learned friends, — some, perhaps, influenced 
by personal interest to become the trumpeters in the cause they have 
espoused ; but it is the duty of every one, who has adopted the busi- 
ness of instructing others, to inform himself, to every practical extent, 
on questions intimately connected with his daily duties. 

It has been said that the teacher should be above the text-books 
used in his classes — should be able to correct any error that may 
occur in them, rather than blindly follow their lead ; this I acknowl- 
edge to be an important desideratum, and he who approaches most 
nearly to qualifications of this grade, will prove most worthy of his 
responsible station, and make it the medium of the highest good. 
Still, we must accept of something short of this for a time, or many 



LETTERS TO A YOUNG TEACHER. 57 

schools will be without teachers. All who act as such, influence their 
pupils, to some extent, and, hence, things in the book which are dis- 
approved by them, will not be fully adopted by the scholars, whatever 
may be the written rule. •' The master says so," has great weight, 
even at the fireside. 

Although the long " War of the Dictionaries " has been carried on 
principally by booksellers, almost every one, with even but slight lit- 
erary pretension, has indulged in predilections for one side or the 
other, — displayed, at times, in debate of no very amiable tone. 
Well would it be if all could harmonize, and adopt one uniform 
standard of spelling and pronouncing our language. But this can 
never be. It savors too much of conservatism for the present state 
of the world. The parties would never coalesce. Those who are 
content with what is time-honored, would not accept a change, whose 
chief recommendation would, perhaps, be its novelty ; and opponents, 
having secured a degree of success, would never yield their vantage- 
ground, but persevere in the hope of a final triumph. 

Much credit is confessedly due to Doctor Webster, who devoted a 
whole lifetime to letters, and whose aim was the improvement of his 
native tongue. But from the time of the publication of his first 
large work, proposing an alteration in the mode of spelling certain 
classes of words (1793), to this day, that portion of the community 
most capable of judging in the case, never favored his innovations. 
They did not admit the authority of an individual to prescribe the 
way in which they should write their vernacular. Nor are our coun- 
trymen — always jealous of an invasion of their personal rights — 
peculiar in this respect. The people of imperial France have never 
universally yielded to the prescriptions of the French Academy — 
the highest literary authority in their country — for an alteration in 
the orthography of some classes of French words ; but former modes 
are still adhered to by many of their countrymen, notwithstanding the 
prestige of this imposing authority. 

Something might have been done by us and in Great Britain, if 
learned bodies or institutions, already in the public confidence, had 
taken a stand in the matter ; but to follow the dictum of one man, 
however learned, the people would never consent. 

The style of language of a people must and will be decided by the 
people themselves. The silent influence of the best writers of the 
time will always modify the fashion of expression and the mode of 
spelling; but general changes must ever be gradual, and a long time 
be required to permeate the masses. 

The duty of a lexicographer is to unfold the state of a language as 



k 



58 LETTERS TO A YOUNG TEACHER. 

it is used by the great body of educated men, and not according to 
the fancy of a single mind. His book is to represent what exists, 
rather than what, in his view, ough* to be. And herein, as it seems 
to me, lies the difference between the two great competitors in the con- 
test referred to. One, a man of notions, has endeavored — unsup- 
ported by a great majority of the learned or by current usage — to 
foist upon the world, in some instances, the results of his own whims, 
sustained at times by very inconclusive reasonings, not always con- 
sistent ; — the other, has given us a representation of the language 
as found in written and in oral use — corroborating his own impres- 
sions by writers most worthy of confidence, and by speakers of the 
purest taste ; in pronunciation, accent, and orthography, giving the 
various authorities in their order, and indicating his personal prefer- 
ence mainly by placing his chosen method first. 

If the question were to rest on this view alone, there could hardly 
be a doubt of the almost universal verdict. But perhaps my statement 
is partial ; possibly, prejudice may mingle its influence and warp my 
judgment. I, however, give it honestly, with no personal or sinister 
purpose, but as the conclusion at which I have arrived, after no 
inconsiderable investigation of the subject for more than a quarter of 
a century, and all the experience that teaching the language has fur- 
nished during that period. But while I would unhesitatingly an- 
nounce my preference for Worcester's dictionaries over Webster's, 
because I find in them the evidence of the most careful, elaborate, and 
thorough study of the language, the most impartial report of its pro- 
nunciation as observed in the most reliable public speakers of learn- 
ing, taste, and experience ; I do not hesitate to say that Dr. Web- 
ster's are worthy of a place on the desk of every teacher, and in the 
library of every student. Not because of their etymological state- 
ments — these are sometimes capricious; not because of any sup- 
posed superiority in their definitions ; but because of their general 
completeness, and the literary curiosities which they contain — as 
well as to indicate my respect for a man who acted as an American 
pioneer in this field of letters. If I could possess but one dictionary, 
it should be that of Worcester. But, in conclusion, permit me to 
say, let a copy of the best edition of the large work of each of these 
authors be in the hands of every one who has an interest in our 
noble language, especially in the possession of every teacher, or 
on the shelves of the school library ; let the volumes be frequently 
referred to, and their contents carefully noted, that the reproach of 
the general ignorance of our mother tongue may be no longer a dis- 
grace to our people. 



LETTER VIII. 

READING. 



Printing has been styled, " the preservative art of all arts ; " and 
reading what is printed is the means of communicating to the univer- 
sal mind of civilized man whatever the press records. 

What a leveller — perhaps I should say, what an equalizer — the 
capacity of reading is ! No matter how lowly born, how humbly 
bred, how obscure the position in life of an individual, — if he can 
read, he may, at will, put himself in the best society the world has 
ever seen. He may sit down with the good and great men of an- 
tiquity. He may converse with Moses and thB Hebrew prophets ; 
with Jesus and his disciples ; with Homer and Plato ; with Shak- 
speare and Milton ; with Fenelon and Newton j with Franklin and 
Washington ; with all the writers in prose and poetry whose works 
have come down to us, and, through them, with the heroes whose 
deeds have become the admiration of men ; with benefactors, whose 
acts of love and kindness to their race have proved them to be the 
sons of God. He may learn the lessons of wisdom that History 
teaches, the discoveries that Genius has achieved, the light that 
Science has shed on the world, and the inventions of Art by which 
the physical conveniences and comforts of man anticipate even his 
imaginary wants. He may learn how to live, — how to avoid the 
errors of his predecessors, and to secure blessings, present and future, 
to himself. 

He may reside in a desert, far away from the habitations of men ; 
in solitude, where no human eye looks upon him with aflfection or inter- 
est, — where no human voice cheers him with its animating tones ; — 
if he has books, and can read, he needs never be alone. He may 
choose his company and the subject of conversation, and thus become 
contented and happy, intelligent, and wise, and good. He thus ele- 
vates his rank in the world, and becomes independent in the best sense 
of the term. 

Reading, then, stands among the first, if not the very first, in 



60 LETTERS TO A YOUNG TEACHER. 

importance, of the departments of school education ; and I propose 
to devote this letter to the subject of teaching it at school.* 

Pursuant to the plan I have heretofore announced, I begin with the 
simplest details. The first step in teaching reading has usually been 
that of making the pupil familiar with the alphabet, and a large 
majority of teachers of the present time pursue this course. There is, 
however, a better mode, one that is far less irksome to the little learner, 
and which saves time, while it brings more of his mental powers into 
exercise. It is that of teaching by words, — the names of things, — 
with a representation of the object, engraved at each word ; as, man, 
cow, boy, &c., attended by the appropriate figure. Every object 
familiar to the child's experience will at once be recognized ; and its 
name, spelled in letters, will soon become to him identical with the 
thing itself. These maybe multiplied to any desirable extent, and the 
form of the letters be by degrees introduced to the child's acquaintance. 

When, by frequent repetition, he has learned these words thoroughly, 
he should be put to short and simple sentences, mainly composed of 
them, but without the drawings. His vocabulary will by this time 
have become somewhat extensive ; his interest will have been awak- 
ened, and he will be prepared to take hold successfully of the ordina- 
rily repulsive task of learning the names of the letters and their vari- 
ous powers. These may be acquired through the assistance of blocks 
or cards with the names and sounds printed on them, but will be 
learned with more facility and pleasure by copying them with chalk 
on the blackboard. Rude will be the work of the child at first ; but 
let him be encouraged, and he will rapidly improve. The object is to 
make something that to his apprehension is an imitation of the letter 
in the book ; other properties will follow in their natural order. 

The method of spelling the words should be by the sounds of the 
letters which combine to form them, and not by their names. No 
difl&culty will, be found in giving the several sounds of the vowels, 
and, after a little practice, those of the consonants will be easily 
made ; and the pupil will be agreeably surprised to discover of what 
simple elements the consonants are composed. 

The last process in learning the alphabet is that of giving each let- 
ter its original name, and no inconvenience will be experienced from 
thus transposing the order of study. On the contrary, the prelimi- 
nary steps taken will have furnished facilities for it. 

When the alphabet, with the several sounds of each letter, has been 

* So important was this part of education deemed by the Romans, that, if 
they wished to express their contempt of an individual, they would say of him, 
" He can neither swim nor read ! " 



LETTERS TO A YOUNG TEACHER. Qi 

perfectly learned, and the pupil begins upon new reading matter, 
require him, whenever he comes to a word that he cannot pronounce 
without spelling it, to spell by the sound of the letter in the case, and 
not by the na?ne. Teach him to depend upon himself, in all cases 
embracing previous instruction upon the same or similar points. To 
prompt him, in every instance when he hesitates, is to impede health- 
ful progress, to keep the mind feeble, and induce him always to lean 
on another for assistance, at the same time indulging him in a habit 
of mental indolence, always to be deplored. 

I do not mean that a pupil is never to be told a thing but once ; 
this would be preposterous. On the contrary, repetition, repetition, 
REPETITION ! is the law in teaching the elements of language, as the 
thrice-inculcated law of Cicero, in regard to oratory, was " Action ! " 
Still, I say, the pupil must kelp himself, as far as he has the ability. 

A reproach to our schools, conveyed in the expression, " It was read 
in a school tone," ought not, after all that has been done for the train- 
ing of teachers, to be deserved. I fear, however, that, with, compara- 
tively few exceptions, it is too well merited to justify any complaint 
against the charge. The fault begins in the primary school. The 
true idea of what reading is seems not to enter the minds of many 
teachers, and hence this bad habit. I understand reading to be noth- 
ing more nor less than talking with a book in hand. Hence it should 
be in practice simply an imitation of talking ; and the very first 
words r^ad, and all that follow, throughout the school life, should be 
given as if the sentiments were uttered in personal conversation. In- 
stead of this, the scriptural injunction in our primary-school reading- 
books, " No man may put off the law of God," is usually read, No- 
ah — ma-an — ma-ah — poo-ut — o-off — the-ah — law-er — o-off — 
Go-ud. Here, then, the remedy should be applied. The child should 
be told to repeat the sentence without the book, and be required to go 
over and over again with it, until he utters it correctly. The teacher, 
of course, will give the proper reading of it after the pupil has made 
a faithful effort without success. Proceeding in this way, and never 
allowing an erroneous reading to pass uncorrected, the " school tone " 
will never obtain a footing in the classes. 

I am aware that this will cost labor, a great deal of it ; but it is 
worth all the labor you may find it necessary to bestow upon it. Your 
patience will often be severely tried, but you must never yield. Some- 
times you may not be able to conquer without devoting the whole time 
of a class to a single individual. Never mind ! Persevere ! Try 
again at the next reading time. You will finally succeed, unless there 
exists in your pupil some organic defect. In such case, it would be 



62 LETTERS TO A YOXJNG TEACHER. 

in the language of Job Pray, " workin' ag'in natur'," and perhaps 
your eflforts would be unavailing. But even here, I would say, let 
the experiment be fairly and faithfully tried before giving up. 

Akin to this is another difficulty you may have to encounter. The 
Irish make use of the rising inflection, in reading and speaking, in 
some cases, where we use the falling. With children of that nation 
you may find it a thing impossible to correct this habit. Inborn or 
inbred from the earliest period of vocal practice, it may not be possi- 
ble to overcome the fault ; still, I would not despair of it as a fore- 
gone conclusion, but would resolve on victory. This determination, 
once adopted, renders almost all things practicable. 

Many writers on the subject have given rules for reading. They 
may be very well for adults, and especially for teachers ; but I doubt 
whether, with some exceptions, they can be made very useful to incul- 
cate on the pupil. Whatever the rules adopted in a school may be, 
the pupils will read as the teacher does, imitating all his peculiarities, 
whether correct or incorrect, whether beauties or deformities. He 
should, therefore, see to it that his own style — the paramount rule 
to his pupils — is the result of sound judgment and good taste. 

To say that one must " keep the voice up at a comma, and let it 
fall at a period," and that we should " pause at a comma long enough 
to count one, and at a period while one might count four," is simply 
absurd, as invariable rules. This may be well enough in most cases, 
but the exceptions occur so frequently as to render the rule nugatory ; 
and, besides, reading according to such rules would inevitably be most 
mechanical, stiff, inexpressive, and lifeless. 

The grand, invariable rule in reading is, read to the sense. This 
involves explanation and instruction on the part of the teacher, 
which, with many, are wholly omitted. The lesson to be read should 
be gone over carefully by him at the time of its assignment ; the 
obscure portions clarified, the classical, historical, political, geographi- 
cal, and other allusions, explained ; and the attention of the class 
directed to any words, difficult or uncommon, contained in the lesson. 
They should then be required to read it repeatedly and carefully, 
before the next class-time, seeking the meaning of every word they 
do not understand, and the proper pronunciation of those words about 
which they have any doubt. When they subsequently assemble for 
the class-reading, the teacher should examine them, to ascertain 
whether they retain all the facts connected with the lesson, which 
they are supposed to have acquired, and tell the story of the piece, in 
their own language, before they begin to read it from the book. They 
will then be prepared to do justice to the author and to themselves ; 



LETTERS TO A YOUNG TEACHER. 63 

but Tw one can, unless by accide7tt, read appropriately what he does 
not understand. 

A good exercise in language is, to require the pupils to introduce 
synonymes for certain words in the lessons, to be read in the sentences 
in place of the original words. If these were previously indicated by 
the teacher, and marked by the scholar, those most suitable for the 
exercise might be selected, and the benefit proportionally increased. 

Nothing serves better to secure the attention of the class than to 
allow the members to criticize each other ; to do which most effectu- 
ally, each one should signify, by raising the hand or other sign, that 
he has some error to speak of; and at the close of one pupil's portion, 
others, at the teacher's discretion, should be called on to make the 
corrections ; and so on till every point has been taken up and set 
right. These corrections may embrace pronunciation, inflection, em- 
phasis, the miscalling of words, tone, quantity, &c. The repetition 
of the portion thus criticized will furnish the means of judging to 
what extent the corrections have been beneficial. 

I do not mean, in a foregoing remark, to say that no mles can be 
useful to the taught. There are rules, comprehensive in extent, and 
almost invariable in application, that may be advantageously insisted 
on ; such, particularly, as indicate the tones of voice most appropri- 
ate to the expression of the various emotions of the mind, with appro- 
priate rate, force, &c. These, it is true, embrace departments of the 
subject more advanced than many of the classes in school would readily 
appreciate, — those of taste and feeling ; but, still, the judicious teacher 
need not despair of making all understand them in a reasonable time, 
if he have books adapted to the various capacities of the pupils.* 

That only is good reading which renders the meaning of the author 
clear, forcible, and expressive, — whose tones would indicate the nature 
of the subject, even when the language was not understood. And this 
may be attained to by very young pupils, if well taught, and made to 
comprehend the lesson to be read. A pleasant story, or juvenile dia- 
logue, a child reads with great gusto, and as naturally as he would 
have spoken the parts of the characters represented, had he really 
been one of them himself. And why ? Because he understands it, 
and enters into the life and action of the scene described. 

* It is to be regretted that, in many schools, notwithstanding the vast num- 
ber and grades of reading-books, — many of them very good, and well adapted 
to the wants of the children, — the most ill-judged selections are made, if selec- 
tions they may be called, "when apparently taken without the exercise of a 
thought as to the appropriateness of the means to the end to be accomplished. 
This is an evil of magnitude, which committees ought to abate. 



g4 LETTERS TO A YOUNG TEACHER. 

Any rules, then, that are promotive of such a result should be 
adopted and enforced. Children soon learn to comprehend the appro- 
priate tones, rate, and force, expressive of cheerfulness, of merriment, 
and those of anger and scorn, and to imitate them with life-like truth- 
fulness. They could also readily be taught to render appropriately 
those of affection, tenderness, pathos, sadness, grief, &c. Here, then, 
is a foundation for some valuable rules. Having had the nature of 
the piece explained to him, and being made to understand it, the pupil 
directly adopts the tone and manner that it requires. Is it of a 
pathetic character ? — he reads it in a tone that excites a sympathetic 
feeling in others : 

" If you have tears, prepare to shed them now ! " 

" Stay, stay Tvith us ! Kest ! thou art weary and worn ! 
And fain was their war-broken soldier to stay ; 
But sorrow returned with the dawning of morn, 
And the voice in my dreaming ear melted away ! " 

Is it an expression of strong indignation ? — he reads in well-adapted 
tones : 

" Ay ! down to the dust with them, slaves as they are ! 

From this hour, may the blood in their dastardly veins, 
That shrunk from the first touch of Liberty's war, 
Be sucked out by tyrants, or stagnate in chains ! " 

Is it an invocation in lofty and sublime poetry ? — he reads in steady 
monotone : 

" Hail, holy light ! offspring of Heaven, first born ! " 
Is it a familiar, merry ballad? — he reads with lively voice : 

*' John Gilpin was a citizen, 
Of credit and renown ; 
A train-band captain eke was he. 
Of famous London town." 

Is it a grand, patriotic resolution that is to be expressed ? — he ren- 
ders it in tones that thrill on the nerves of his hearers : 

" I know not what course others may take ; but as for me, give me liberty, 

OR GIVE ME DEATH ! " 

And so of all the variety of themes and passions introduced into his 
reading lessons. 

We know of rules, promulgated by some of the best elocutionists 
speaking the English language, that fail to make good readers. They 



LETTERS TO A YOUNG TEACHER. 65 

produce specimens of great artistic beauty ; they show how plastic is 
youthful humanity ; but they take all the soul out of the reading, 
and leave instead an image of marble, as polished and as cold ! 

I have, while writing this page, fallen, for the first time, on some 
lines so well adapted to my purpose, that I will venture to transcribe 
them. They are credited to Lloyd, and are found in Epes Sargent's 
excellent First Class Standard Reader, — a book admirably suited to 
the use of the highest class in our Grammar Schools, but not adapted 
to classes of a lower grade.* 

"EXPRESSION m READING. 

. 'T is not enough the voice be sound and clear, — 
'T is modulation that must charm the ear. 
When desperate heroines grieve with tedious moan. 
And whine their sorrows in a see-saw tone, 
The same soft sounds of unimpassioned woes 
Can only make the yawning hearers doze. 

2. That voice all modes of passion can express 
Which marks the proper word with proper stress ; 
But none emphatic can the reader call 

Who lays an equal emphasis on all. 

3. Some o'er the tongue the labored measures roll, 
Slow and deliberate as the parting toll, — 
Point every stop, mark every pause so strong. 
Their words like stage-processions stalk along. 
All affectation but creates disgust, 

And even in speaking we may seem too just. 

4. In vain for them the pleasing measure flows 
Whose recitation runs it all to prose ; 
Repeating what the poet sets not down. 

The verb disjoining from the friendly noun ; f 
While pause, and break, and repetition, join 
o make a discord in each tuneful line. 

5. Some placid natures fill the allotted scene 
With lifeless drone, insipid and serene ; 
While others thunder every couplet o'er. 

And almost crack your ears with rant and roar. 

* This book is prepared with great labor, good taste, and sound judgment ; 
and contains fifty-odd pages of *' Introductory Remarks," that few teachers 
could read without profit. It has, also, a copious "Explanatory Index," of 
great value to pupils, if not to teachers. 

t From this criticism I dissent. In a majority of instances, there must be a 
pause in reading, between the nominative case and the verb ; and this in pro- 
portion to the length of the nominative or nominative phrase. By it expres- 
sion is improved, taste gratified, and the sense more fully developed. 

3E 



QQ LETTERS TO A YOUNG TEACHER. 

6. More nature oft and finer strokes are shown 
In the low whisper than tempestuous tone ; 
And Hamlet's hollow voice and fixed amaze 
More powerful terror to the mind conveys [ ? ] 
Than he who, swollen with big, impetuous rage. 
Bullies the bulky phantom off the stage. 

7. He who, in earnest, studies o'er his part. 
Will find true nature cling about his heart. 
The modes of grief are not included all 

In the white handkerchief and mournful drawl ; 
A single look more marks the internal wo 
Than all the windings of the lengthened ! 
Up to the face the quick sensation flies. 
And darts its meaning from the speaking eyes ; 
Love, transport, madness, anger, scorn, despair, 
And all the passions, all the soul, is there." 

Yes, true it is, a proper modulation is the great charm in reading. 
Without it, whatever beauties the reader may introduce, there must be 
a fatal lack. 

Correct pronunciation, too, is an important element in good read- 
ing ; and although, without it, the sense may be expressed and the 
feelings moved, much of the pleasure of the hearer is lost. A coarse 
style of pronouncing degrades the reader, and gives one a low idea of 
his breeding and his taste. Fix, therefore, on some standard, and 
insist on its being the guide in your teaching. Walker's has been the 
most generally received, for the last fifty or sixty years, and still is, 
in the main, the most reliable. Smart's, to which many defer, is but 
a slight modification of Walker's ; and Worcester's — an authority of 
the highest respectability — is, perhaps, the best in present use in this 
country, as comprising nearly all the points of importance that are 
fashionable among the best speakers and peculiar to the other two 
eminent orthoepists mentioned. 

It will cost you infinite pains to fix this pronunciation as the habit 
of your pupils, because, in a large proportion of the families to which 
they belong, a coarse style is indulged in, which will do much to neu- 
tralize the example and most strenuous efi'orts of the teacher. But be 
not discouraged. Correct every mispronunciation perpetrated in 
school, whether in private conversation, in class recitation, in class 
reading, or in elocutionary exercises. In time, you will make your 
mark, which will tell with fiivor and advantage on your school. 

Among the errors in pronunciation, current in our community, are 
those of giving the sound of a in far for that of a in lad ; as in grasp, 
last, transport; — giving the long sound of a for the short sound, in alone, 
above, atone, and to the article a, as a man, a book, a house ; — giving 



LETTERS TO A YODNG TEACHER. Q*J 

the sound of double-o for long u [ew], in attune, revolution, consti- 
tution ; * — thrusting u into words where it does not belong, as elum, 
helwm, whelz^m, for elm, helm, whelm ; — giving er for o or ow, in 
potato, fellow, window; — aw for re, in more, deplore, restore;! — 
er for aw, in law, raw, saw, — or rather adding r or er to the word, 
as lawr, law-er ; — i for e, in get, yet ; — e for i, in sit, stint ; — 
u for e or a, in silent, reverence, repentance ; — u for i short, in 
ability, facility ; — omitting the d in and, and the r, w^hen not initial, 
in almost every word ; the e in belief, benevolent ; the h in whig, when, 
what ; the e in every, novel, counsel ; the i in Latin, satin, certain ; 
the g in present participles, reading, speaking, loving, &c. 

Some of these inelegancies are so nearly universal, that persons — 
critics in language, too I — are to be found, who would abandon the 
cases as hopeless, making no effort to correct the faults. To such 
despair the faithful teacher never yields, but, in proportion to the dif- 
ficulty, nerves himself for the struggle. The faulty sound of the let- 
ter 2i, adverted to above, can be corrected, in any school, if the 
instructor is a man of taste and energy, and resolves in earnest that 
it shall be done. The same may be said of the much-wronged r. 
There is no occasion for indulging children in calling storm, stawm ; 
corn, cawii; morn, mawn ; — nor of pronouncing burst, first, durst, 
as if spelled hust, fust, dust. 

Children in school will do what they are constantly, perse veringly, 
and resolutely required to do ; and if these faults still adhere to them, 
the teacher is responsible. 

Allow me to say a word as to the mechanical arrangement of your 
reading classes. Method, in trifles even, serves a valuable purpose, 
and is essential to success with the young. 

If your pupils are sufl&ciently interested in their lessons to require 
no particular rank in class to induce fidelity, place them in the alpha- 
betical order of their names. Require them always to stand, when 
reading, in a position of ease and gracefulness, the shoulders set back, 
the chest protruded, the book in the left hand ; every eye fixed on the 
lesson, and, as far as possible, allow nothing to be going on in the 
room that may divert the attention of any member of the class. Let 
the lesson be announced — page, subject, author, chapter, &c. — by 
some one designated by the teacher, sometimes at the head, sometimes 

* This sound belongs chiefly to words in which the u follows r ; as in truth, 
rule, ruth. 

t An eifectual corrective for this, in teaching, is, in such words, to require the 
pupil to transpose tlie letters re in pronouncing, shortening the sound of er a little 

± " Hermes." in the Boston Transcript of June 2G, 1857. 



68 LETTERS TO A YOUNG TEACHER. 

at t\ie foot, and sometimes elsewhere. And, instead of the word 
" Next," when another pupil is to read, call on some one by name, 
standing near or remote from the preceding reader, and thus, without 
any regular order, till the lesson is finished ; sometimes returning, 
again and again, if you see cause, to the same individual. You will 
thus be sure of the attention of every one, and each will have the 
advantage of instruction, not in his own portion merely, but in that 
of every classmate. 

If time should not suffice for a regular and effective drill of every 
member of the class, do what you can thoroughly ; sham nothing. 
To teach a class in reading properly is not the job of a few minutes ; 
it should occupy from half an hour to an hour, according to the num- 
ber of members, that each one may carry away from the exercise some 
new thought, some item of knowledge, at every lesson. You, of course, 
cannot do all this, with each of your classes, every day, unless your 
school is under the charge of several teachers for the various depart- 
ments ; but — following out this plan — when a lesson is given, it 
will be of some value to the learners. 

Several years ago, the Board of Education of Massachusetts dis- 
tributed a set of questions among the school districts of the Common- 
wealth, for answers from the teachers ; and one of them was, " How 
many times a day do your classes read ? " I thought then, and I 
think now, that, if those gentlemen expected a single teacher to give 
instruction in anything but reading, in a school of the average number 
of pupils and classes, it was preposterous to hint that more than one 
reading lesson a day could be given to each class, unless where the 
merest elements of school studies were taught. To make accom- 
plished readers of a school of children is a rare achievement, and can 
only be done by much time and patient toil, and never where, from 
the unreasonable expectations of the directing powers, the teacher is 
tempted to slur over the lessons. 

I have, in these remarks, very unsatisfactorily to myself, given 
gome views of the importance of reading, and added some notions on 
the mode of teaching it. I find, on review, that it has been done in 
aa imperfect and rambling manner; and were it not given in the form 
of a, letier, in which department of composition large liberty is al- 
low-ed. I should hardly venture to place it on the pages of the Jour- 
nal, whose articles generally are so superior as literary performances. 
My aia^., however, is not at fine writing, but rather to do something 
to iiid inexperience in the business of developing, to the best results, 
the various powers of the young. 



LETTER IX. 

PENMAIIifSHIP. 



In this age of steam, when utility and conservatism are often 
compelled to yield to pretension and hurry, irrespective of positive 
gain or loss to the community, no one thing connected with school 
education seems to have suffered more at the hands of the would-be 
reformers or " new lights " among the teachers of our times, than 
penmanship, or the methods of teaching it in schools. And, conse- 
quently, the handwriting of our young men is very inferior to that 
of the last generation, comparing like classes with like. This may 
be shown by comparing the signatures to the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence, or the names of the members of the Cincinnati, as they 
were enrolled at the close of the Revolutionary War, with any simi- 
lar number of signatures to any public document of the present day. 
And yet it cannot be denied that this department of elementary 
education has lost nothing of its importance, either positive or rela- 
tive, by the introduction into the schools of a variety of other studies, 
— studies unquestionably useful, but not to be pursued at the sacrifice 
of a good handwriting, whatever their grade or character. Men may 
live and thrive, occupy responsible and useful positions in society, 
serve their fellow-men, become good patriots, philanthropists, and 
Christians, and know little or nothing of geometry or physiology ; 
but to write illegibly or badly is almost to forfeit one's respectability, 
Of course, there are exceptions to the rule. We all know individu- 
als, eminent for their talents, knowledge, and position, whose hand- 
writing is as difficult to decipher as the hieroglyphics of Egypt; 
men who seem to glory in this peculiarity, and who lose nothing in 
the public estimation from its indulgence. Still, they are not suitable 
examples for others, in this respect. No merchant would employ 
them in his counting-room ; no author would choose such for amanu- 
enses; and surely they would be the last placed in the teacher's 
chair. 



70 LETTERS TO A YOUNG TEACHER. 

We must, therefore, assume that it is as indispensable to write 
well as to do any other thing well. This idea was believed and prac- 
tised upon until within twenty-five or thirty years ago. When what 
is called the " double-headed system " was universally prevalent in 
the public schools of the then town of Boston, the writing-master 
was appointed' on account of his supposed dexterity in the teaching of 
penmanship, and no one was chosen, eithet m-aster or assistant, who 
was not himself a good penman. And what was the consequence? 
The pupils of these schools became distinguished for the beauty of 
their chirography. They needed no better recommendation to the 
favor of merchants in distant cities, than to have been educated at 
one of them. It is true, the range of their attainments was not 
extensive ; but what they professed to do they did well ; and when 
they left school for the counting-room, they were prepared to enter 
upon the first steps of a business life, to the satisfaction of their 
employers, and with a rational prospect of personal success. 

It must be acknowledged that this preparation was obtained at too 
great a cost of time and labor to the teacher, and that more occupa- 
tion should have been furnished to the pupil ; but let it be remem- 
bered that this was before the introduction of metallic pens into the 
schools, when two persons — the master and the usher — were obliged? 
to make and mend a thousand quill pens a day in a single school ; 
which service occupied so considerable a portion of the time as to 
leave but little, comparatively, for other duties. Besides, there were 
two large apartments in each building, one of which was devoted 
to instruction in Beading, Grrammar, Geography, and (occasion- 
ally) Composition ; and the other to Writing and Arithmetic, — 
a portion of the scholars attending one department in the fore- 
noon, and the other in the afternoon — alternating between the 
two. But-, if the very most was not made of the hours in school for 
•the benefit of the children, a greater evil was avoided — that of an 
excess of lessons for study, not only in the school halls, but at the 
fireside at home. This evil practice has, of late, attained such a 
point as to threaten the health and life of the children, and to entail 
upon the community a race of enfeebled beings, crushed or enervated 
in body, by overloading and overworking the mind, while little or no 
physical relaxation or exercise is allowed, to neutralize the efi"ect of 
tjie unnatural process. 

In some respects the system of these schools has been improved; 
and most of the large towns and cities in Massachusetts have fol- 
lowed, or are following, the lead of the metropolis. It is well to 
have one head, and make him responsible for the condition of all the 



LETTERS TO A YOUNG TEACHER. .^l 

departments ; but where this last thing is not done, — where the sev- 
eral teachers of a large school act independently of the principal 
teacher, — the arrangement may prove to be a retrograde step ; and 
this, in fact, I apprehend to be the condition of some of the schools 
about us and elsewhere. 

But, on the particular topic under consideration, — the value of 
penmanship, and its present deterioration, — I have some additional 
remarks to make, and some views to offer, corroborative of my own, 
from other quarters. 

Edward Everett is indebted to the public schools of Boston for 
his early education. His handwriting is not only perfectly legible, 
but neat and handsome. In one of his recent speeches, at a school- 
gathering in the city, he says, — alluding to the subject of writing, 
as taught in the days of his boyhood, — " that beautiful old Boston 
handwriting, which, if I do not mistake, has, in the march of innova- 
tion (which is not always* the same thing as improvement), been 
changed veuj little for the better ^ And this sentiment, divested of 
the Governor's courteous manner, means, I presume, " has been 
changed" very much for the worse. 

Henry Williams (late junior), for seventeen years principal of 
the Winthrop School in Boston, and second to no one of the public 
teachers in the beauty of his penmanship, — acquired under the 
instruction of Benjamin Holt, formerly of the Mayhew School, — 
says, in an article on Writing, in the Massachusetts Teacher for 
Nov., 1855 : " Writing is an imitative art, which requires a careful 
and exact training. The eye and the hand, the taste and the judg- 
ment, are constantly employed in producing the desired result, until 
the hand has attained a cunning which enables it to execute, almost 
mechanically, every required movement. We mean that volition 
becomes so rapid, that execution seems, after long practice, to be but 
the habit of the hand ; illustrated thus by Pope : 

' True ease in writing comes from art, not chance, 
As those move easiest who have learned to dance ; ' 

affixing to ' writing ' the technical meaning which is often assigned 
to it. This art is partly mechanical and partly a mental operation. 
At first the mental operation needs as much to be watched over and 
aided as the mechanical operation of the hand ; indeed, much more. 
You give a child a letter to imitate. What is the process which the 
task involves? He observes the character, but not with the practised 
eye, the taste and judgment of a penman. He then attempts to put 



Jf2 LETTERS TO A YOUNG TEACHER. 

into form and outline his own idea of the letter. The result is a fee- 
ble abortion. He tries again and again. His teacher will tell him, 
we think, if he is judicious, to do it slowly, until he is quite success- 
ful. Those who have had much experience in teaching young chil- 
dren, will credit the assertion, that it will generally require two or 
three years' training before the fifty-two characters of the large and 
small alphabets are mastered. Hurrying only retards the child's 
progress. After he has learned, by long and careful painstaking, to 
imitate these forms, he then learns to combine them ; to exercise 
his judgment in spacing the characters ; to discern the fitness of their 
relative lengths and proportions ; and to preserve carefully an exact 
parallelism in their formation." 

The following article, from a late Boston paper, — I know not what 
one, — is evidently the work of an individual well , acquainted with 
his subject, as far as Writing is concerned, — although I dissent from 
his views of what is doing in Arithmetic, believing that that subject 
receives at least as much attention in the schools as it can fairly 
claim; — and I gladly avail myself of his testimony to strengthen 
my position : 

"Penmanship. — Within the present generation there has been 
more deterioration in penmanship than in jiny other branch of educa- 
tion. In days of yore a good, round, legible handwriting was con- 
sidered indispensable to our youth ; and our fathers, if they could 
get no more of an education, were pretty sure to understand Arith- 
metic as far as the Rule of Three, and to write a good hand. And 
we are heterodoxical enough to believe that for the practical purposes 
of business, that education, limited as it was, is preferable to the 
cramming which boys undergo now-a-days, to the neglect of chirog- 
raphy, and the simple rules of Arithmetic. * * * * 

" Why are the writers of the present day less rapid and less legible, 
chirographically, than they were fifty or even twenty years ago ? We 
answer, first, because they are not properly taught. A writing-master 
in the olden time always insisted upon three points — first, that the 
pupil should commence with, and be drilled upon, large letters, until 
he knew how to shape them regularly and well ; secondly, that there 
should be a rotundity to all the letters which admit of it; and, 
thirdly, that the pupil, in school, should always write slowly.* 

* The tJiird point was a school axiom fifty years ago, and was embodied in 
the distich, 

" Learn to write slow ; all other graces 
Will follow in their proper places." — T. 



LETTERS TO A YOUNG TEACnEE. ^8 

*'Now mark the consequence of such teaching. The pupil made 
straight marks until he could make really straight ones, and write 
them parallel to each other. Then he was advanced to curve letters, 
and finally to those letters combined of straight lines and curves. 
He was required to consume an hour in writing his copy of twelve 
lines, or one line in five minutes. By this slowness his eye became 
accustomed to form. After writing single letters, he was taught to 
write words, and then sentences, and for the first year or two he was 
kept exclusively upon what the schoolmasters call large hand. Then 
he was allowed to write copies of a medium hand, and finally of fine 
hand. 

" No flourishing was then allowed upon copy-books. Boys were 
not taught to draw ornithological specimens with the pen, nor to use 
the pen for any other than its proper purpose. They, therefore, came 
from school legible penmen. Of course the reader will ask what is 
the cause of more illegibility in penmanship now ? We propose to 
answer. 

" Some ten or fifteen years ago a new race of writing-masters ap- 
peared on the stage, who proposed to make their pupils exchange a 
very bad for a very good style of writing in from ten to twenty les- 
sons. They called their systems by inappropriate names, such as 
' anti-angular,' and the like. For a time they claimed to be, and on 
the surface appeared to be, successful. Their systems, mainly pro- 
fessing to be anti-angular, were peculiarly a combination of straight 
marks and very acute angles, so as to destroy the proper rotundity 
of the letters. An incautious observer, from the pains that they 
took to make their pupils observe size in the formation of the letters, 
would say that their handwriting looked better after the twenty les- 
sons than before ; but, if he would attempt to read it, he would find 
the new hand more illegible than the old. 

"Multitudes were duped in this manner, and, having expended 
their money and their time, soon after relapsed into the old hand 
which they had previously acquired, and such did not again trouble 
the writing-masters who teach in a very few lessons. That experi- 
ence taught the people, what they ought to have discovered by a 
little reflection, that chirography is a mechanical art, and needs long- 
continued practice to make its subject a good penman. To make a 
bad penman into a good one, in from ten to twenty, or even in a hun- 
dred lessons, is precisely similar to giving a boy a skilful use of the 
plane in just so many hours. Nay, worse than that ; for the plane 
can be skilfully managed by an eye competent to judge of smooth- 
ness alone ; but the penman must appreciate size, form, regularity, 



74 LETTERS TO A YOUNG TEACHER. 

and beauty. Unless he does all this, his penmanship will be poor ; 
and he must not only appreciate these qualities, but be able to exe- 
cute them in his copy. Talk of imparting this in twenty lessons ! 
The proposition is simply absurd. If he has a correct taste and a 
fancy for chirography, he will get a good handwriting by years of 
attention, and then he may write fast without writing illegibly. 
There is no shorter road to good penmanship, maugre the pretensions 
of quacks and sciolists." 

Another reason for the falling off in the quality of the writing of 
the present day is, I apprehend, a low estimate of its value in the 
minds of those who appoint the teachers* If the candidate is found 
to be what is called a " good scholar," deficiency in penmanship is 
hardly considered a bar to his election ; although to write well is as 
essential a qualification in a good teacher of a common school, as 
proficiency in any one of the studies embraced in the school course. 
There should be an acknowledged standard by which to determine 
merit in this important branch of learning. The spirits of the past 
renowned penmen of England and our own country should be evoked, 
— Champion, Milne, Tileston, Carter, Fox, the Webbs, Holt, and 
others, possessed like them of undisputed skill in teaching and 
executing good writing. If candidates for places could make no 
approach to a good degree of skill like theirs, they should not be 
chosen. Let the voice of the community resolutely demand this, and 
it would be forthcoming. It is attainable by most of those who wish 
to become teachers, — on the condition of determined resolution and 
perseverance; and they who are unable or unwilling thus to secure 
it, would do well to adopt some other sphere of labor. 

In pointing out the details in the method of teaching penmanship, 
I should accept most of the sentiments and suggestions quoted above 
from the Boston newspaper, not only for their being time-honored, 
but because they are consonant with methods that have been found 

* It is possible that our fathers exaggerated the worth of good wi'iting ; but 
the effect of their estimate of it on the young was highly beneficial. It excited 
their enthusiasm and their most earnest efforts, while they wrote, as one of their 
♦* pieces " for " Selectmen-day," in a style of perfect beauty : 

" Three things bear mighty sv\'ay with men : 
The Sword, the Sceptre, and the Pen ; 
Who can the least of these command, 
In the first rank of Fame shall stand ' " 

A revival of a portion of this spirit would be a decided improvement on the now 
prevalent apathy on the subject. 



LETTERS TO A YOUNG TEACHER. 75 

successful wherever they have been steadily practised. As in Draw- 
ing, so in Writing, the straight line should constitute the first lesson, 
and should be practised till the pupil can form it perfectly. He 
should have a clear and distinct model of what he is to imitate, from 
the first mark to the last lesson in finished penmanship. Let the 
strokes be made in pairs, thus : //^ ; it will aid him to secure perfect 
parallelism, or equality of slope. This accomplished, the stroke with 
a curve at the bottom follows, thus : /^; next, the first element of 
the small n^ thus: ^ ^; then the second element, thus: «*; next the 

o-' ; then the / ^. He is now prepared to practise on the o and all the 

letters formed from the Oj — a^ ^j a, o? . Let him next practise on 
all the letters whose elements he has become familiar with, namely, 
a J a J ^j A J i^ /j /j ^771 J nj Oj /ij -^ ^^ y^• dividing them into sev- 
eral portions for practice; and, finally, the others, which are more or 

less irregular : as, -^ c </ /C ^^ ''^-'y^ '^^ ^'■' '^•^ ^■' /^ ^ ' ^^^^ 
broken into divisions. 

Having thus mastered the small alphabet, he may pass to the 
capltals,^^ either broken up into their elements, or taken whole in 
their alphabetical order. If the drilling up to this point has been 
successful, he may attempt the full -formed capitals at once. After 
sufficient practice on the single letters, small and large, he is pre- 
pared for combinations. Let him then join an '??i to each of the 
other letters of the alphabet, as a^7Z, 4771 , &c., following this 
combination with a still further practice of the ^7i connected with 
each of the other letters, laro;e and small, thus : ©t'77Z'772aj 



^■77t77zu J &c. This method, well persevered in, will have prepared 
him for what teachers call joining,^^ or joining hand ; in it we begin 
to introduce in the copies sentiment, facts in History, Geography, 
Art, Chronology, as far as it can be done in a single line, and make 
it the vehicle of important scraps of knowledge, which the pupil 
inevitably stores away in his memory, for use in all future time. 

And here it may not be amiss to say that, on taking up joining^ 
you should insist on attention to everything in the copy ; not merely 
the dotting of the z'5, and crossing the Vs^ but to the punctuation, — 

1 This may be called No. 1 in the series of copies ; 2 this No. 2 ; ^ No. 3 ; 
-* No. 4 ; 5 No. 5 ; G No. 6 ; 5' No. 7 ; 8 No. 8 ; 9 No. 9 ; lo No. 10 ; " No. 
11 ; 12 No. 12 ; ^ No. 13. 



76 LETTERS TO A YOUNG TEACHER. 

allowing no comma, apostrophe, admiration mark, question, or other 
point due, to be omitted. Although this may not, strictly speaking, 
belong to the teaching of penmanship, it should not be separated 
from it when thought is to be expressed in what is written ; and the 
injunction is introduced here because of the very general neglect of 
the matter in the schools. 

Require, also, the name of the writer, with the date, correctly 
pointed, too, to be placed at the foot of every page in the writing- 
book. 

After a practice continued till the principles are mastered in all 
the relations into which they may be introduced, let the medium 
hand^* be attempted, with little variation in the style of the letters, 
excepting in the size. Next the fine hand,^^ which is that of the ordi- 
nary business of practical life. 

As nothing acquired by teaching and training can be long retained 
but by careful practice, a general system of (so to call them) reviews 
should be adopted ; thus : when No. 1 of the series of copies has 
been well mastered, let it be still practised on the left-hand page of 
the copy-book, and No. 2 be commenced on the right ; this conquered, 
let No. 3 take the place of No. 2 on the right, and No. 2 fall back 
to the left-hand page; and thus onward, till No. 13 — the large 
joining hand — be reached. Let the copies be arranged alphabet- 
ically, and the whole alphabet be carried through several times before 
the next grade — the medium hand — is undertaken, and this in like 
manner till fine hand be introduced ; the same order of grading as 
before still continued — large hand on the right, to half-joining (No. 
12) on the left ; medium on the right to large on the left ; and fine on 
the right to medium on the left. In this manner all that the pupil 
gains is retained, and the whole system held together as by the links 
of a chain. 

The use of the pencil and slate precedes that of the pen ; and, 
generally, the form of the figures used in numbers is learned before 
writing with a pen is begun. But, if you would have these figures 
finished with taste and beauty, let them be included in your regular 
lessons in the copy-books. And, to secure this with certainty, let, 
say, every eighth page be devoted to figures ; and, if you do not '* set 
the copies " in the books yourself, let the books, when new, be marked 
with an F on one side of every fourth leaf, that the figure copies may 
not be forgotten. If the pupils in your school who write are few, 
set the copies for them. They will enjoy it^ and strive the more to 

14 No. 14 : 15 No. 15. 



LETTERS TO A YOUNO TEACHER. 77 

( 

imitate your style, and will doubtless improve the faster for it. But 
if the writers are too numerous for this, write the copies, — don't 
use engraved ones, — as well as possible, on slips of paper pasted to 
card or pasteboard ; and require the pupil, when writing, to point the 
fore finger of the left hand at every letter or figure before attempting 
to make it himself, and he can hardly fail to write like his teacher. 

If your own writing should not satisfy you as a model, procure 
sets of the old Boston slips, even though engraved. 

We have thus run over all the steps in the order of the lessons; 
and general and business-like practice is now to follow. Portions of 
well-selected poetry may occasionally, at. this stage, take the place of 
the single-line copies, intermitting with mercantile forms, such as 
Receipts, Bills of Parcels, Notes of Hand in variety, Bills of Ex- 
change, Accounts Current, Invoices, &c., in general use, every step 
in which will tend to qualify the boy for what he will have occasion 
to know and to use, on emerging from the school-room and entering 
on the career of manhood. If convenient, it would be well to have 
some instruction and practice with the pen in the various kinds of 
printing ; at least, as far as the large and small letters in Roman 
and Italic are concerned ; * and would often be found of important 
use on leaving school. 

In sitting to write, the left side of the body should be partially 
turned toward the table, desk, or form, touching it gently, but not 
pressing it, while the right arm should be drawn nearly to the other 
side of the body. The pen should be held with some degree of free- 
dom under and between the nail of the thumb and that of the second 
finger, while the fore finger falls upon the pen to steady it and aid in 
guiding its motion ; the first and second fingers to be kept as nearly 
straight as practicable ; the thumb to be bent. The third and fourth 
fingers should rest, partially bent, under the others, for their support, 
yet permitting the latter to play easily over them ; and the top of 
the pen should incline toward the shoulder, thus bringing the nib to 
press squarely on the paper. 

With beginners it is essential to insist on a uniform observance of 
this manner of holding the pen. It is deemed by persons of experi- 
ence, teachers and non-teachers, to be the true method, approving 
itself to taste as well as to utility. But if pupils, when first falling 
under your care, have already, by the indulgence of years in bad 
habits of holding the pen, rendered the task of correcting them nearly 

* This was done in the schools half a century ago, with the addition of Ger- 
man Text and Old English. 



78 LETTERS TO A YOUNG TEACHER. 

hopeless, — especially if they have acquired a good handwriting, — 
it is better to allow them to continue holding it in the way that has 
become to them the easiest and most successful, lest an attempt to 
improve it should impair the quality of their writing. We have 
sometimes found persons holding the pen in the most ungraceful and 
awkward fashion, and yet writing elegantly, who, on being required 
to adopt the legitimate mode, have degenerated into a stiff and grace- 
less style. 

I have, thus far, spoken only of writing in copy-books ; but the 
addition of lessons and practice on the black-board would prove a 
very effective auxiliary. As far as your school arrangements will 
admit of it, teach in classes. Standing in front of the board, write 
the model in large, fair characters, and require as many pupils as the 
board will accommodate to imitate it. Others may use their slates 
for the purpose. Call upon the members of the class to criticize each 
other's work, and add your own summing up, with reasons for your 
statements. Guard particularly against the most common faults, such 
as joining the «^ in the wrong place, or not joining it at all ; [it 
should invariably be joined on the right-hand side, so that when 
changed into an a^^ a^ a^ or aj the point of connection may not be 

visible;] making the lower turn of the '971^ '?Zj &c., much broader and 

thicker than the upper; the loop of the y, Gj &c., — which is rarely 
symmetrical with beginners, — too long, or too short, too full, or too 
narrow, and often having the double curve of the ^^ instead of the 



single one of the /; separating the parts of the ^^ ^^y^^ &c., in- 
stead of carrying the hair stroke from the first shade to the second, &e. ; 
making the stem of the /i^ ^^ &c., either sharp at one end, and square 
at the other, or both of them sharp, — they should be perfectly 
square ; taking the pen from the paper, between two letters con- 
nected by a hair-stroke, as in a/n, &c. 

Constant vigilance, and continual correction of errors, are indis- 
pensable to the formation of a good hand. To know how to execute 
well, then, is the first grand requisite in the teacher; the next, to 
furnish good models ; and the third, to have a quick eye to detect 
faults, and a persistent determination for their correction. These 
conditions existing, and the principle carried out, your pupils will 
write well^ with a reasonable amount and duration of practice. 

This course is recommended for those who have the privilege of 
attending school during the years usually devoted to school education. 



LETTERS TO A YOUNG TEACHER. ^9 

For those whose school-days are few, — who are to be withdrawn to 
assist in domestic or other employment, or for some cause that cannot 
be overruled by the teacher or the school-directors, — a briefer method 
must be adopted ; a method that has little to recommend it, but which 
is better than nothing in the way of learning this valuable art. It 
consists in writing, from the start, simple and single words, on a slate, 
and requiring the pupil to imitate them, without the gradual steps 
indicated above ; copying the same words over many times, as well 
as possible, and advancing, according to his skill, to more and more 
difficult words, until he is able to form them into sentences, and read 
them himself. He will then be prepared, to some extent, to write on 
paper ; and may at once begin upon joining, in a book prepared for 
the purpose. It will not be expected that pupils will, with so imper- 
fect a mode of training, become elegant penmen ; nor even, excepting 
in some few rare instances, attain to a style above mediocrity ; but 
they will acquire, under a faithful teacher, who believes in the impor- 
tance of a means, though an imperfect one, of communicating thought, 
an inestimable prize ; and no one, if his stay at school should be lim- 
ited to a single year, or even less, should fail of the opportunity of 
turning this little to the best account. And, in order that time 
should not be lost, the fact should be ascertained, on the boy's enter- 
ing school, whether he is intended to continue for a long period or a 
short one, that the course of instruction best suited to the circum- 
stances may be adopted for him. For want of such information in 
advance, boys, in our cities particularly, often leave school destitute 
of a sufficient amount of instruction to enable them to write their 
names. 

To secure the best results for the members of your school, will, I 
doubt not, be your earnest aim. And, whether their stay with you 
be longer or shorter, you should strive to imbue them with a resolu- 
tion to excel. Your own effi)rts will produce little fruit without their 
cooperation. Good writing comes not from careless habits, but from 
a laborious, constant, painstaking, earnest imitation of suitable mod- 
els. Such models being furnished, perhaps the whole matter might 
be embraced in the simple words of the trite copy-slip, " Imitate the 
ccypyT 



LETTER X, 



GEOGRAPHY. 



Whether the absurd method of teaching Geography, "which ob- 
tained in the early part of the present century, is now practised to 
any considerable extent, or not, in our country, is matter of conjec- 
ture. In districts remote from educational centres, where few if any 
conventions of teachers are held, and opportunities for comparing 
views among members of the fraternity are rare, improvements are 
tardily introduced, and the traditional modes of a less enlightened 
day, are, in such localities . at least, doubtless adhered to. '' The me- 
moriter lesson is marked,/" Get from here to here,^'' and, the language 
learned and recited " wofE for word like the book," according to order, 
the pupil is dismissed with approbation, — '■^perfect, not having missed 
a word." ( Ay; he had missed no word ; but what ideas has he 
acquired? What has he learned of the form of the countries; their 
relative positions on the earth; the habits of their people; their 
productions, climate, and so forth ? Can he give you any rational 
account of any of these ? Is he able to describe the form of the ter- 
ritory, or its surroundings ? Can he indicate the direction of it from 
his own home, or answer any of the numerous inquiries that the sub- 
ject naturally suggests to the mind ? 

When we confine oui^selves to the strict and meagre definition of 
the word geography, — a description of the earth, — we exclude a 
large amount of valuable knowledge, which is so intimately connectv^d 
with geography, as to be claimed as part and parcel with it; or — 
if this is saying too much — should, at any rate, be studied along 
with it. 

There is not, perhaps, in the whole range of studies introduced 
into our schools, one so suggestive as that of geography; a study 
which so naturally introduces so extensive a circle of connected sub- 
jects ; subjects that can more appropriately and naturally be taken up 
with geography than by themselves or in any other connection. 
Geography, therefore, needs to \iQ taught ; and, without wholly dis- 
carding the text-book, the subject should exist mainly in the teacher's 

3 F 



82 LETTERS TO A YOUNG TEACHER, 

mind, that, having drawn, as it were, the text from the book, the 
discourse upon it should emanate from the living soul of the instructor. 
Thus, and thus only, as it seems to me, can that life and spirit be 
imparted to it so indispensable to infuse the principle of reality. 

Hence, there exists a necessity, more or less pressing, for introduc- 
ing, in these Letters, some account of what may, perhaps, be consid- 
ered a better method than that of our fathers. 

The most eflFectual way of teaching geography, unquestionably, is to 
visit the spot of earth under consideration, and thei-e make it the subject 
of inspection, remark and explanation. No description in language 
can equal this, nor convey to the mind of the learner any conception 
of the reality to be compared to it. Next to this is the seeing of the 
figure of it in material form, with due proportions preserved, — the 
larger the better, — with all the variety introduced that belongs to 
the original, as far as the size of the copy will admit. Next, a 
drawing of the same, including all the lines and boundaries, repre- 
senting countries, districts, cities, seas, rivers, lakes, mountains, &c. 

Proceeding in this order, then, — first by personal inspection, sec- 
ond by the artificial globe, and third by maps, — we are prepared for the 
filling up of language, describing to the learner whatever he may not 
fully comprehend, and furnishing such information respecting the pro- 
ductions, people, climate, government, and institutions of the region, 
as are most important to be known. 

We will suppose, then, that there is in the school-room an artificial 
globe, to which the attention of all the pupils is to be called, and the 
representation of its great natural divisions of land and water pointed 
out ; first, so far as the " four quarters of the globe " are concerned, 
and the oceans and seas connected therewith. This is as far, perhaps, 
as the subject could be successfully unfolded to all classes and all 
ages and grades of mind in the school at once. 

The lowest class, or beginners in the study, should now be taught 
the definitions of the names of the simplest objects, — land and water, 
■ — the pupils, at the same time, sketching them, one by one, on their 
slates or paper, — the teacher having first given their forms and names 
on the black-board. If the learners first copy the figures from the 
teacher's drawings, there can be no objection. Many would, doubt- 
less, need this assistance, particularly the very young, at the start. 
There is no injury done to them by this kind of aid. It is necessary 
only to stop short of the point where the child's mind and thought are 
to be principally exercised. At first he will and must be an imi- 
tator. Nay, the same instruction must be again and again repeated. 



LETTERS TO A YOUNG TEACHER. ^3 

To say that the child is " stupid" will never enlighten him. It may, 
and doubtless will, mortify him, perhaps discourage him, and excite a 
spirit of anger or dislike towards the teacher. But great considera- 
tion must be exercised towards children, whose stock of ideas is very 
scanty, and who are entitled to, not only a large extension of patience 
on the part of the teacher, but of encouragement also. 

When the lesson — which should be a short one — has occupied a 
sufficient amount of time and attention, the black-board should be 
sponged clean, and the sketches of the pupils be removed from 
slates and papers. The catechetical exercise should follow; and, 
as the pupil answers the question, "What is a cape? " he should be 
required to draw it on the black-board. It will be found useful, at 
first, mnemonically, to present certain questions in pairs, — giving 
those relating to land divisions along with the similar ones in con- 
nection with the water, — as an island and a lake ; a small island and! 
a pond ; a cape and a bay ; a sea and a continent, &c. 

When these simple terms for natural divisions have been fiflPy 
mastered, so as to be known by sight and name, the child should 
commence map-drawing. Let it begin with his own play-ground or 
house-lot, extended to the public square, mall, common, or other well- 
known enclosure in his neighborhood, and thus carried on till the 
town or village is pictured before him. If he is capable of it, he 
should be required to introduce the various mountains, hills, rivers, 
lakes, ponds, brooks, &c., that are embraced within the limits of the 
sketch ; but this would usually be too much to expect from beginners. 
Encourage him to attempt all that he can be reasonably expected to 
accomplish ; but nothing more than he can comprehend and explain. 

As he advances in grade, he will be able, with similar leading of 
the teacher, to give the outline of the State in which he lives. This; 
like the first step, may be made a very interesting class exercise: 
Let, for example, the subject be the State of Massachusetts. One 
boy gives, on the black-board, the form of the whole territory ; thd 
next is directed to mark the most easterly county ; another the next 
in course ; and so on to the most westerly. The most southerly is 
then described, followed by the next onward toward the north, till 
the most northerly is indicated. The members of the class are then* 
called on for criticisms, and any one who detects an error in the forni 
or locality of any county, is senfe to the board to correct it. 

The rivers, mountains, and cities or large towns, arc then " loi- 
cated " in the same way ; and, if appropriate instruction has been, 
previously given, questions may be put as to the peculiarities of any 
of them, — as the heights of the mountains; the character of the 



84 LETTERS TO A YOUNG TEACHER. 

rivers — whether navigable, or not; whether used for power in manu- 
facturing, or otherwise ; whether affording fish, or not, and what 
varieties ; — and of the cities, as for what, of a remarkable nature, 
they are distinguished. These details, and others in variety, will, 
however, as a general thing, be found better adapted to a more 
advanced stage in the course. But, as far as is attempted, all should 
be done thoroughly ; the exercise to be repeated, from time to time, 
till every member of the class is familiar with every part of the 
lesson, and each one can draw the whole, with a good degree of 
accuracy, from memory. 

It is well for the pupil to fix in his mind the resemblance which 
any country or district of country bears to any object with which he 
is familiar; as Italy, in the form of a boot; South America, resem- 
bling a shoulder of mutton ; and the like. Let this resemblance be 
real or fancied, it will aid him in his task. 

When the pupils shall, by this method, have caught the inspiration 
from the teacher, they may be furnished with an engraved skeleton or 
outline map, selected at the teacher's discretion, for practice by them- 
selves. Much time, which would otherwise, perhaps, be lost or 
wasted in idleness, may be thus occupied in filling it up, improving 
their knowledge of geography, and their style of writing and print- 
ing, at the same time. 

Some schools that I have known have, by a similar course, become 
remarkably expert in map-drawing, — securing accuracy of form and 
proportion, as well as beauty of coloring and penmanship, in the 
various styles of chirography and pen-printing.* 

The other States of the Union may be taken up in the same way, 
followed by a combination of the New England States ; the Middle, 
the Southern and Western ; and, finally, making a grand review of 
the United States, in one map. Frequent reviews, from point to point, 
would be necessary to keep the mind familiar with the ground gone 
over. 

Before proceeding further with the American continent, it would be 
well to cross the Atlantic, and take up the British Islands ; sketch the 
outline of Great Britain, and fill up, as on this side of the water. 
Thence, cross the Channel to the continent of Europe ; make an 
outline of the whole, and divide the countries as was done by the 
counties in the lesson on the State of Massachusetts. Subsequently, 
draw the countries separately, and practise upon them till the form 
of each one becomes as familiar to each pupil's eye as that of his 

* That of William B. Fowle, of Boston, especially. 



LETTERS TO A YOUNG TEACHER. 85 

native State. The remainder of the American continent should fol- 
low, with the islands along its coasts. Then Africa and Asia. 
Every region has its points of interest, but a careful discrimination 
should be exercised, and time and labor be given to those portions of 
the world a knowledge of which would prove most satisfactory, agree- 
able, improving, and useful. To devote much time to crowding the 
memory with many of the names of places in Africa, for instance, 
which one would scarcely meet with, except in a treatise on Geogra- 
phy, in the whole subsequent course of his life, would hardly be a 
wise appropriation of time and study.* 

Europe, in its various divisions of Northern, Southern, Central, &c., 
concentrating so many specimens of grandeur, beauty, natural curi- 
osities and interesting phenomena, and presenting, in its historical 
records, such a storehouse of the wonderful, the heroic, the patriotic, 
the scientific, the brave, the self-sacrificing, and the patiently enduring, 
— besides having been the home of our fathers, — will naturally be 
found the most attractive and interesting to the learner, of the various 
foreign regions of the world. He should therefore dwell longest upon, 
and make himself best acquainted with, that portion of the world ; and, 
as I have before intimated, should be directed by the teacher, as he is 
mapping out the different parts of Europe, either as countries, districts, 
or cities, to the birthplaces of the world's benefactors ; the scenes of 
their labors, their sufferings, or their glory. He should remember the 
good of all creeds, — Plato and Aristides, Brutus and the Gracchi, 
Alfred and Charlemagne, Gustavus Yasa and William Tell, Laplace 
and Humboldt, Shakspeare and Milton, Newton and Wilberforce, Fen- 
elon and Jenner, and Hannah More and Grace Darling, and Mrs. 
Frye and Florence Nightingale, — omitting none of either sex, wher- 
ever humanity demands a notice of them. 

Palestine and other parts of Asia will also readily attract his atten- 
tion, and the scenes in which the patriarchs and prophets of the 

* It is not indispensable that the precise order of the maps attempted, as 
above indicated, should be invariably followed. There may be a better arrange- 
ment. In some atlases a convenient and rational order is laid down ; and if 
outline maps, adapted to them, can be had, they will prove an important gain 
to the learner. My object is to secure a rational and regularly progressive 
order, which with some is sacrificed to inadequate considerations. 

It would be nearly, if not quite, impossible for the pupil, in the usual time 
devoted to school education, to draw a map or maps of every considerable 
portion of the globe, without injustice to other studies. It is, therefore, proper 
to begin with those in which we have the greatest interest, or with whose 
inhabitants we cherish friendly or business relations. After this suggestion, 
the teacher's own reflection will be a sufficient guide. 



86' LETTERS TO A YOUNG TEACHER. 

Hebrews took part, and those which were rendered sacred and memo- 
rable by the establishment of the Christian religion and the attendant 
<' mighty works" and sufferings of its great Head, — Bethlehem, Naz- 
areth, Jerusalem, Capernaum, Mounts Zion and Tabor, and the Mount 
of Olives, — all these should be pointed out. The birthplace of Paul ; 
the isle of Patmos, where John closed his long and memorable life ; 
and whatever else of equal interest is known concerning these and 
other distinguished men, who figured in the sacred history and geog- 
raphy of their times. 

In sketching the maps of our own country, the same course should 
be pursued, and the pupil's attention drawn not only to the birth- 
places of the great and good men who have lived and left examples 
behind for our benefit and imitation, but also to the spots consecrated 
by their deeds, or by their blood shed in the cause of national freedom, 
as Lexington, Bunker Hill, Yorktown, Saratoga, Trenton, Long Isl- 
and. These, with their heroes and martyrs, should be commemorated. 
Mere military success I should not deem sufl&cient cause to " make a 
note of; " but in other countries, as well as in our own, where victory 
in battle had enabled an oppressed people to throw off the yoke of 
tyranny, or assist in setting a nation free, I would direct the attention 
of the learner to it, and to the leading spirits of the struggle. And 
this would introduce such places as Marathon, Thermopylae, and Ban- 
nockburn. 

• If it be objected that this is histm'y or hiography, I reply, that no 
better auxiliary to the teaching of geography can be introduced than 
those facts and men, which places on the earth bring to the mind, when 
they are truly memorable in themselves. I would further maintain 
that geography and history should not be separated, but be always 
taught and studied together. One assists in acquiring and retaining 
the memory of the other, and both increase in interest from the union. 

The teacher may throw in many a useful word to his pupils in their 
process of map-drawing, especially in regard to the ridges or chains 
of mountains in the several continents — how they follow, in their 
direction, apparently, one particular law or rule in one hemisphere, 
a«d a different one in another ; so that an observant eye may distin- 
guish the country to which the mountains belong, simply by the direc- 
tion and relations of the mountains themselves. So in regard to the 
course of rivers, whose tendencies are in uniform directions in neigh- 
|?oring localities. The teacher will here indicate the cause of this, 
azid also, when their directions vary, state what is the cause of such 
variation. 

The pupil observes, that, in some parts of the world, there are but 



LETTERS TO A YOUNG TEACHER. g^ 

few rivers. He may not speak of this, but should have the reason for 
the fact stated to him. He finds, too, that in some countries there is 
little or no rain ; in others, a great deal ; and in others still, periodical 
seasons of rain, lasting for months together. Tell him why it is so. 
Also, the causes of the trade winds, whose operations seem so wonder- 
ful, and yet are made so subservient to the welfare of the mercantile 
world. 

Let him know something of longitude and latitude, and, as soon as 
he is able to comprehend their meaning, give him simple problems, to 
test the utility of this knowledge. In travelling, he hears his father 
say his watch is too slow, and that they are about two hundred miles 
from home, in an easterly direction. Ask him the longitude of the; 
place, and if he knows the longitude of his own residence, he will say 
it is — °, or about three degrees less than at his own home, and that 
the watch is twelve minutes slow. Or, he has travelled in an opposite 
direction about ninety miles, and his watch is fast, and he may per- 
ceive and say that the watch is fast six minutes, and the longitude is 
one and a half degrees greater than at his own residence. He readg 
in a newspaper that a ship has been spoken at sea, in a given latitude; 
and longitude, and^ turning to a map covering that point, he will see 
just where the vessel was, at the particular hour when she was seen 
and spoken. 

Tell him, at this stage of his progress, that while we measure the 
sun's time east and west, we reckon his degree of heat north and 
south. Hence he will perceive that, in going from this latitude tow- 
ards the north pole, the cold will continually increase ; and that in 
travelling in the opposite direction, till he reaches the equator, the 
heat increases in a similar ratio. Give him next some account of the 
zones, and the causes of the varied temperature in each. Direct his 
attention to the productions of these widely-differing portions of the. 
globe. He will perceive that they are distinctly marked in every 
department of creation, — man, beast, reptile, bird, vegetable, fruit, 
flower, — and that the production of one zone is rarely found living 
or growing spontaneously within another, excepting in contiguous or 
proximating parts. Tell him where to look for the strong, industri- 
ous, intellio-ent, matter-of-fact man, who earns his subsistence and 
makes the world happier by his labor ; and show him that the ani- 
mals, the fruits, and the vegetable productions of that zone partake of 
qualities adapted to just that race of men. • 

The same may be said of the others. Where the physical wants 
of man are few, little in the way of labor is required of him. Excess- 
ive heat abates his strength, and nature feeds and clothes him from 



88 LETTERS TO A YOUNG TEACHER. 

her ample storehouse. She feasts him on her luscious fruits, regales 
his ear with her rich music, fascinates his eye with her gorgeous color- 
ing, and ravishes his smell with her exquisite odors. 

In others, again, — in the colder portions, — where little grows or 
can grow, the inhabitants are few, and thej become inured to hard- 
ship, and do but little else than perform the natural functions which 
carry them through a brief and precarious existence. The few brute 
animals and vegetable productions thereof, partake of the same low 
grade of properties and qualities, and exhibit a rigid adaptation to 
what may be termed the law of the climate. 

Hence, the pupil may be led to know what to expect from man, 
beast, fruit, and flower, by ascertaining the part of the globe — mainly 
the latitude — in which they are found. Taking a list of the districts 
of a country, cities, and large towns, and comparing them, the known 
with the unknown, a pretty correct idea may be formed of the temper- 
ature and natural productions of each; the probable vigor, effemi- 
nacy, and habits of the people. This rule is not to be taken without 
limitation, for modifications, more or less considerable, are produced 
by circumstances, which should be pointed out by the teacher. 

An agreeable mode of giving a practical character to this part of 
our subject, and one that is adopted in some schools, is, for the teacher 
to read from a mercantile newspaper some of the various advertise- 
ments of the merchants, making them texts to be commented upon, and 
to form the basis of a catechetical exercise. Here we read of tea, 
gunny bags, saltpetre, mace, sumac, spelter, cofi"ee, indigo, cassia, 
opium, sugar, hemp. Now the question is, first, Whence came they ? 
or, in more familiar language, Where did they come from ? This 
question may be followed by others, in variety, to any extent that the 
time of the teacher will permit ; as, Where is the place ? is it a city ? 
an island ? what is the article advertised ? what are other productions 
of the same place or country? the habits of the people? their history? 
their government? the population of their chief cities? their religion? 
&c. ; bringing out more thought and imparting more information than 
the same amount of time could do in almost any other course. I 
am aware that the lack of time would not allow every teacher to 
indulge himself and his school, to any great extent, in this interesting 
and useful exercise ; but still, in my judgment, if but fifteen minutes 
daily were to be thus appropriated, the advantage to the school would 
be great, and the good efiTects on the families represented therein 
would be strikingly observable. How many persons there are, on all 
sides of us, that have not the slightest idea, even, of the countries 
which produce the most common articles of daily domestic consump- 



LETTERS TO A YOUNG TEACHER. 89 

tion or use, and even the meaning of the names of many articles 
constantly advertised in commercial papers ! What is learned at 
school is usually talked about at home ; and especially any new idea 
about things, that comes to the learner in a pleasant way, without the 
formality of an assigned task, and, consequently, without study. 

In connection with this exercise, the routes usually pursued by nav- 
igators to and from the several ports, from which the articles of 
commerce, that become the subject of conversation, are imported, 
would be found a matter of curiosity and interest; and I believe 
none of our school-books in present use refer to the subject at all.. I 
do not complain of this, but would recommend to the teacher to intro- 
duce it along with this miscellaneous exercise, as sure to give much 
satisfaction to the inquiring minds among his pupils. Caleb Bing- 
ham, the best teacher that Boston had in his time, had some ques- 
tions and answers of this kind, in his little work, called The Geo- 
graphical Catechism, which in my childhood was a great favorite with 
me, and whose impression, although many a long year has passed 
since I studied it as a class-book, is still vivid and pleasant in my 
memory. 

Among other facilities for illustrating the subject of geography, are 
the raised maps, or maps in relief, representing the inequalities of the 
surface of the earth. These maps are found highly useful with the 
advanced classes of a school, whose members are capable of compre- 
hending the scale of comparison introduced, and always fix and 
reward their attention. They are confined principally to mountain- 
ous countries, but are not without interest when typifying those that 
are comparatively flat. Several have been imported, representing 
Italy, Switzerland, Europe, Germany and the Netherlands, France 
and Belgium, Mont Blanc and environs, and others, — whose most 
prominent mountains can be easily recognized by those who have 
travelled in the several countries, and have felt a sufficient interest in 
the subject to ascend their grand elevations, and institute comparisons 
between them. Those of the greatest altitudes loom up, even in 
these miniature models, with a degree of grandeur not readily antici- 
pated, when the scale on which they are necessarily projected for 
school uses is considered ; and they challenge the admiration of the 
young student, as, assisted by them and his own imagination, he 
climbs their snowy tops, and looks, almost giddy, into the vales 
below. 

In some portions of a country denominated " hilly," the surface of 
the map is little more irregular than the outside of an orange ; while 
that of others, like Mont Blanc, presents very striking elevations. 



90 LETTERS TO A YOUNG TEACHER. 

Thus, from the ordinary hill to the lofty peaks of the Alps, a careful, 
and, apparently, correctly-graduated scale, is adopted and followed 
throughout. Every teacher, therefore, who can command a set of 
these maps, would find great utility in their use. 

They might be used to advantage in connection with the engraved 
classification of mountains, found in many school atlases. 

The mere learning by rote of the names and heights of mountains, 
of the elevations and depressions from the surface of the sea of vari- 
ous territories, can make no impression on the mind to compare in 
permanency with what is acquired through the medium of the eye, 
assisted by the judgment ; and hence these maps have claims superior 
to the other means of instruction and illustration, which have usually 
been found in the schools. 

I have purposely avoided making the discriminations of Physical, 
Mathematical, and Political geography, because I wished to range 
freely and at large over the wide field embraced in the general sub- 
ject ; and because I believe that, in traversing the surface of the globe, 
unfettered by technicalities or rigid rules, I could appropriately touch 
upon any topic having near relations to the soil, and what it is pro- 
ducing, or has produced, worthy of being known to the young. Method 
is well, and there are studies which require a rigorous adherence to it, 
and particularly as the student advances in years and mental capacity; 
but, as I wander with my pupil, for a peripatetic lesson, and call his 
attention to the flower by the wayside, the rock of the crag, or the 
lofty tree of the forest, so, in the survey of the crust of the planet 
we inhabit, I cannot willingly pass specimens of the striking, the 
noble, or the instructive, without endeavoring to turn it to a profitable 
account. 

We cannot make the school-boy's task too agreeable. There is no 
danger that he will not have labor enough, and vexation enough, and 
confinement to his books and the school-room sufficient to exercise all 
his patience and temper, his memory, his reasoning powers, and his 
ph;ysical endurance, — give him what auxiliaries we may. And this 
should always be borne in mind. The work that he is capable of 
doing I would require of him ; but whatever of sunlight can be thrown 
in upon his path of intellectual toil should not be withheld. He will 
then not only acquire more, and comprehend what might otherwise 
be obscure in his mind, but will enjoy as he labors, and thus be 
encouraged to press on to higher and nobler attainments, urged by his 
own wishes and feelings, rather than hj the requisitions of those who 
direct him. This is not only desirable for the pupil's sake, but changes 
the teacher's task to a delio;htfal recreation. 



LETTER XI. 

REWARDS AND PRIZES. 



TnE subject of this letter is Rewards in ScnooLS, as among the 
means to be introdueed to secure the best results of school-education 
in the most genial, natural, and agreeable manner; to which I shall 
add some remarks on excessive school-study. 

The transcendental idea that the young are to study for the love of 
knowledge, or from a sense of duty, has of late gained many converts 
in our community; but I shall endeavor to show, — how agreeable 
soever it may be to influence, control, or direct, by such considerations 
alone, — that, in large schools, especially with the very young, other 
motives must be appealed to. It cannot be reasonably supposed that 
a thing so unnatural to children as confinement in a school-room, in 
constrained, long-continued, and perhaps fatiguing positions, with lit- 
tle change or variety, is to be made tolerable by the annunciation of 
an abstract principle ; particularly when the tasks imposed are as 
unattractive as the confinement. Children, like the young of other 
animals, delight in action. The kitten, the kid, the lamb, the colt, 
in their unrestrained habits of playing, gambolling, and bounding, 
symbolize children in a state of nature. Left to the exercise of their 
innate tendencies, they are found as buoyant and frisky as the young 
of the irrational creation. Most of the smaller birds never walk ; 
but when in motion on foot always run or trip. So as a general 
thing with children, especially boys ; when abroad, free, and left to 
their own choice, they seldom walk, but move with a sort oi skip. 
Kence, we perceive the propriety and importance of measures that 
may call them out of this, their normal state, without violence to the 
instincts with which they come into life, and awaken an interest in 
objects and employments for which they have, with few exceptions, 
little or no natural propensity. How, then, is this to be done ? Of 
course, we admit that there is, in most families, some deoree of order, 
system, or discipline, to which the little ones are expected to submit ; 
and to which they do render what is considered submission, although 



92 LETTERS TO A YOUNG TEACHER. 

in various deorees, from the legitimate and prompt obedience of the 
olden time, down to what some disciplinarians would deem insurrec- 
tion. This amounts to something, however little, in the preparation 
of the children for school. The animal buoyancy of the young being 
is, to some extent, checked. He is partially prepared for the most 
urgent of the school requisitions, and, in time, comes to look upon 
the scene of his daily life as other than a prison. Still, many things 
are to be introduced before it becomes to him a place of happiness or 
even of content. The kindness and parental consideration of the 
teacher are, undoubtedly, the most potent general influence, — the 
first to be exercised, and the last to be surrendered. If the room is 
sufficiently spacious; if it is light, well-ventilated, properly warmed in 
cold weather, and has a pleasant location ; if, still further, it contains 
within its walls specimens of art and beauty, — engravings, paintings, 
sculpture, flowers, and the like, — much is gained towards reconciling 
him to the various requirements of school. After a while, however, these 
influences lose a portion of their power. The young of the human race 
live on novelty. The expedient of to-day must give place to a new 
means of excitement to-morrow. Some form of indulgence, privilege, 
or distinction, must now be inaugurated. What shall it be ? In some 
shape or other, it is a reward. No matter in what it consists : a pic- 
ture — a ticket of approbation — a "merit;" they all come to the 
same point ; all appeal to the child's love of approbation. 

There are persons, of large experience as teachers, who disapprove 
of this, who denounce the use of emulation, condemn school prizes, 
and profess to use no means for exciting the ambition of their pupils; 
but who, by a simple system of weekly reports of the deportment, 
character of lessons, &c., sent to the pupils' homes, produce the high- 
est degree of mental excitement, — in some cases to the sacrifice of 
health. 

I cannot see the distinction between one of these modes of excite- 
ment and the other. Both induce to efi"ort, and both may be abused. 
Discretion is required in either case ; but it is not for him who re- 
sorts to one method to secure his object, to condemn him who prefers 
another. 

At home, the mother's kiss, the father's smile of approval, his cor- 
dial shake of the hand, accompanied by the word of encouragement — 
these may take the place of the tangible reward. They are, in fact, 
equally real and efi'ective. They address themselves, in like manner 
and with similar force, to a motive ever rife in the mind of man, — a 
motive placed within him to be used, not crushed, — a motive which 
has led to the most heroic and magnanimous achievements recorded 



LETTERS TO A YOUNG TEACHER. 93 

on the page of history. It is the desire of 'praise, the hope of reward 
or personal benefit, in some expressive form. Tell me, if you can, 
where it does not exist, where it is not felt, encouraged and nourished. 
The mother cherishes it as she breathes the flattering word into the 
infant's ear while he frolics on her lap ; that infant bears its impres- 
sion in every step of his progress towards manhood. At home and 
at school, throughout his college course, he is under its influence ; 
beyond that, in the maturity of manhood, in his second and third 
degrees ; in all his promotions ; in his titles of professional life ; in 
his official positions ; in his deeds of humanity, of daring, and of self- 
sacrifice. He rescues a human being from destruction ; he emanci- 
pates an enslaved people ; he introduces a means of meliorating human 
sufi"ering ; he discovers an antidote to disease ; he invents a magnetic 
telegraph ; descries a new planet ; brings down the sun to paint his 
pictures; — all these are followed by appropriate rewards: rewards 
bestowed by teachers of every grade ; by humane societies ; by learned 
professors ; by academic governors ; by grave councils ; by the exec- 
utives of states; by kings, queens,. and emperors. And can all these 
be wrong ? Why, among all the enlightened nations of antiquity, were 
statues set up, mausoleums built, and monuments erected in memory, 
or to the honor of, good or great men ? Why have godly men even 
yearned for the glories of martyrdom ? Is this desire for fame, — for 
an immortal name, — so universally felt, to be scorned or ignored ? Did 
not the great Founder of Christianity, " for the joy set before him, 
endure the cross, despising the shame " ? Did he not promise the 
inheritance of heaven to the pure, the humble, the benevolent, the 
obedient among all nations ? 

It seems, then, that throughout all time, personal advantage — real 
or imaginary — has been at the bottom, has been the motive, the 
pole-star of the good and the great, as well as of the obscure among 
men. Of course, good results, beyond those of a personal nature, 
were expected, in most cases, to supervene ; and many a one has been 
unconscious of the influence that stirred him in his noble work. Still 
that influence was the motive power. 

Why, then, denounce the use of an agency so efficient for the 
mind's highest good ; and that, too, in a department of human labor 
in which all proper appliances and aids are so much needed ? 

I do not mean to affirm that no conceivable collection of young 
persons can be educated without a resort to stimulants like those 
adverted to ; bat only to say that, as a general rule, rewards are 
indispensable to the attainment of our wishes in school. A limited 
number of children, of docile dispositions and unexcitable tempera- 



94 LETTERS TO A YOUNG TEACHES. 

ments, selected from well-ordered families, — particularly those not 
over-anxious for rapid school advancement and the development of 
precocious mental powers, — might succeed very satisfactorily, with 
little or no application of extraneous motives. So some young ladies, 
enjoying the example of enlightened and highly cultivated mothers, 
may be found, during the school-going age, to have so far risen above 
the need of ordinary stimulants as to look upon them with indiffer- 
ence, — having attained to that state of mind in which other consid- 
erations preponderate. Such cases I have known, and cheerfully 
acknowledge; but this does not invalidate the argument, nor induce 
us to pronounce useless — far* less hurtful — the application of 
rewards, in some form, to schools as they commonly exist around us. 
Rewards are needed to rouse the torpid ; to excite the sluggish ; to 
vitalize the inert ; to interest the indifferent ; to appease the passion- 
ate ; to persuade the obstinate ; to render docile the intractable. 

Very few exceptions to the universality of the rule exist ; and even 
where they are supposed to exist, the spirit of the rule is there, and 
its influence is felt in full operation ! 

There is one institution * in the country, ostensibly acting independ- 
ently of this universal motive ; and the government of it proceed on 
the theory of the absence of all rewards and all penalties. They 
appeal to the sense of propriety, duty, honor, in the students ; and 
the appeal, it is said, is seldom made in vain. The thought is grand, 
and the result must be elevating and ennobling, if it can be infallibly 
carried out. But what are the circumstances of this seminary ? 
The students are of the usual college-going age as found in the AVest, — 
older than those of the long-settled parts of the country, — comprising 
both young men and young women, to whom instruction, beyond the 
elements, is considered a privilege and a boon ; persons resolved to 
make the most of their opportunities, which they feel to be precious, 
and to which they devote a portion of their lives, that is measured, 
in their geometry, by dollars and by ingots. Hence, the frivolities 
which attach to the students of most other collegiate institutions, 
present slight attraction to them. The interest which is exerted in 
them by the peculiarities of their position, overcomes or holds in 
check many temptations ; and even indolence — that almost uncon- 
querable bane to progress — is mastered. 

But even this institution admits, practically, the propriety or 
necessity of the universal law, by conferring degrees on its graduates. 
Not only so, but it refuses to give a diploma to any individual, — 

* Antioch College at YelloTv Springs, Ohio — Horace Mann, president. 



LETTERS TO A YOUNG TEACnER. 95 

whatever may be his or her classical or scientific attainments, — unless 
the moral character be good. This plan receives my hearty approval, 
and deserves to be copied by every institution throughout the land, 
which confers degrees. Honor to the man or the government that 
originated it, and still more honor to those who have firmness enough to 
carry it into practice. But let it be observed that the reward is still 
at the foundation of it, and must, mainly, be the cynosure that guides 
the student through his whole college career. 

Is it said that the moral character only is affected by this? If 
this be granted, still our principle obtains : The reward does the 
work ; and one might as well expect to create a world as to eject this 
motive-power from the human soul, or to crush out its never-ceasing 
operations. But let it be remembered that while purity of life, a 
consciousness of moral obligation, and allegiance to the claims of 
duty, are the practical motives to the student, he will rarely fail in 
that fidelity to the claims of his class, which results in good scholar- 
ship, and which, in other seminaries, is followed by distinguished rank; 
and, beyond the years of college-life, will give him position in the 
world, whether he wear the minor honors of his Alma Mater or not. 

That the young in many schools may be, and often are, over- 
stimulated, I admit and lament. It is, unquestionably, the fault 
of the age, and owes its origin quite as much to the home department 
as to the school. But the abuse of a thing by no means proves that 
. the thing itself should be repudiated. As well might one wish to 
annihilate the sun, by which all nature, animate and inanimate, is 
cheered, invigorated, fostered, matured and blest, — because, sometimes, 
under its meridian beam, a human being is prostrated, or, in the 
absence of accustomed moisture, the harvests of the husbandman are 
cut off, and the parched earth threatens a district of country with 
famine. As well might we say, let the winds be pent up in eternal 
caves, — although the life and health of man depend upon their 
action, < — because a gale sometimes wrecks our ships, destroys our 
property, and drowns the voyager in the ocean depths. There is, in 
the course of events, to individuals no unmixed good. In the great, 
all-embracing scheme of Providence, the good greatly preponderates ; 
and while a moderate amount of what, to our limited intelligence, 
appears evil, is permitted, could we survey the complete arrangement 
of the Ail-wise, with an unclouded vision, unbiased by selfish considera- 
tions, we should be ready to admit now — as the Creator " saw " 
in the beginning — that " aZZ is good." 

It is not denied that i\i\^ feeling — so to call it — maybe per- 
verted, as may every propensity in man's nature ; and, hence, reason 



96 LETTERS TO A YOUNG TEACHER. 

has been given to regulate and guide him. This does not, however, 
change the nature of the question, nor call upon us to denounce the 
principle. It merely requires that our best discretion should be 
exercised in the use of it. 

I am well aware that the distribution of school medals, or other 
prizes, wherein competition or rivalry is most actively engaged, has 
been the main cause of the earnest opposition to the prize system ; and 
I grant that, so far as relates to schools, the utmost caution should be 
employed in the bestowment. Where a limited number of these 
prizes is to be contended for, emulation is often excited to its highest 
pitch, and serious consequences sometimes attend the awards. It does 
not follow, however, that emulation is to have no part in stimulating 
to effort. This would be condemning the wisdom of the GJ-reat Giver 
of the human mind, with all its motives, impulses and desires. It 
rather shows us the necessity and duty of training those under our 
charge to overcome or regulate their selfishness, to look with a gener 
ous sympathy upon a successful rival, and, having done what they 
could to secure the prize, congratulate the winner on his victory, and 
apply themselves, with renewed diligence, to another trial. We should 
direct them to look out upon the world, where competition exists iu 
every form ; not only at the tournament, in the race, the combat, the 
wrestle, — but at the forum, on the mart of trade, in the studio of the 
artist, in the observatory of the astronomer, by the midnight lamp of 
the poet, the historian and the philosopher. All cannot win, but all 
can " try again; " can " learn to labor and to wait" the result of a 
second trial; — nay, to endure, if it must be so, another defeat. The 
prize that man can bestow is not the greatest good of life. There 
will be found some other and some higher boon. The fault is in him 
who repines, rather than in the system that bestows prizes on the 
most skilful or meritorious. What incessant meanings Avould fill the 
air of all populous regions of the world, if the unsuccessful aspirants 
for honors, place or wealth, should give audible expression to disap- 
pointed feeling, as their more fortunate neighbors present themselves to 
their sight, or to the eye of their imaginations ! No doubt suffering, 
to some extent, is endured, both in and out of school, from contem- 
plating, at one view, one's own failures and another's success. But is 
it not self-inflicted ? Cannot its first approach be repelled by a little 
reflection of the well-balanced mind? And are not self-inspection, 
self-discipline, and self-control, as important departments of early 
education and culture, as any to which a parent or a teacher may 
apply himself? 

There are those who not only condemn the whole system of school 



LETTERS TO A YOUNG TEACHER. 9*7 

rewards, but who denounce, in no measured terms, the act of our 
country's wisest philosopher, Benjamin Franklin, for making pro- 
vision in his will for a yearly distribution of medals to the most 
deserving pupils of the public schools of his native town, where his 
active mind received its first school-instruction. 

He says, in his will devising the legacy : " I was born in Boston, 
New England, and owe my first instructions in literature to the free 
Grammar Schools established there. I therefore give one hundred 
pounds sterling to my executors, to be by them, the survivors or sur- 
vivor of them, paid over to the managers or directors of the free 
schools in my native town of Boston, to be by them, or those persons 
or person who shall have the superintendence and management of the 
said schools, put out to interest, and so continued at interest forever ; 
which interest annually shall be laid out in silver medals, and given 
as honorary rewards, annually, by the directors of the said free schools, 
for the encouragement of scholarship in the said schools belonging to 
the said town, in such manner as to the discretion of the selectmen 
of the said town shall seem meet." 

This donation, and another for the encouragement of industrious 
young mechanics, were " gratefully accepted " at a public town-meet- 
ing, held in Faneuil Hall ; and a committee, appointed by the meeting, 
subsequently reported that, " Every step to carry into full effect his 
[Franklin's] benevolent plan will be cheerfully pursued by those whom 
he was pleased to constitute his trustees, and rising generations will 
for ages bless the name of their illustrious friend and benefactor." 

The beneficial effects of the Franklin donation have often been 
acknowledged by those familiar with the Boston public schools ; and 
the following remarks on this point were made by Mayor A. H. Rice, 
chairman ex-officio of the schools, at the inauguration of the Franklin 
Statue, September 17, 1856 : 

" Among the recipients of these tokens have been many who 
obtained honorable distinction in after-life, and thus fulfilled the 
promise which attended the success of their first intellectual efforts ; 
and how many others have been led to positions of usefulness and 
honor, who might have fallen far below their actual attainments, 
without the stimulus which these little mementos have afforded, can 
be estimated best by those who appreciate that common attribute of 
our nature, which, especially in the young, requires something more 
than the consciousness of accomplished duty as an incentive to pro- 
tracted exertion. How full of deep suggestion and touching pathos 
is the spectacle which has been exhibited to-day, of the recipients of 
these honorable tokens, marching in lengthened column, section after 

3G 



98 LETTERS TO A YOUNG TEACHER. 

section, year by year, in consecutive generations, covering more than 
fhe ordinary life of man, each one adorned by the trophy of his 
youthful toil, and bearing before the image of his benefactor a life- 
long tribute of veneration and gratitude ! " 

As no provision had been made in Franklin's will for medals for 
girls, the Boston school committee, in 1821, voted an extension of the 
plan, so that the girls in the Grrammar Schools might be included in 
the distinction ; and they have annually, since that time, with the 
exception of the year 1847, received medals denominated *' City 
Medals," for good hehcumor and scholarship. 

The Franklin medals have been distributed to boys — three to six 
in a school — from 1792 to the present time ; and have been of incal- 
culable service to these large and popular institutions, in awakening 
and keeping alive a desire to excel, and stimulating the pupils to 
effort. Great care is taken to have them av/arded according to desert, 
and seldom has there been any cause to complain of injustice. It has 
often been difficult to decide between the claims of two candidates of 
apparently equal merit, and in such cases both have usually become 
recipients. With the infirmities that attach to human beings, it is not 
certain that perfect justice has invariably been done to candidates; 
but no pains have been spared to avoid injustice. In some few 
instances, sensitive minds, it is affirmed, have been deeply w^ounded ; 
but this generally arose as much from the keenness of their sensibility, 
as from any defect in the system of distribution, or mistake in the 
decision of the judges. And are not parents in some measure respon- 
sible for this weakness in their offspring ? Should they not, from an 
early period of life, train them to habits of mental endurance, and 
thus fit them, by all of intellectual vigor that they can develop or in- 
fuse into them, for the struggles that await them? 

Original differences exist, it is true ; but is it not equally true that 
circumstances modify the mental, as well as the physical character of 
individuals ? 

The great sagacity, shrewdness of observation, and familiarity 
with the operation of human motives, possessed by Dr. Franklin, 
would seem to be a sufficient guaranty of the propriety and safety 
of the use of these incitements to duty in school. By the con- 
sent of the nations, he has been considered as one of the great 
lights of the world in modern times. He stood as an arbiter of the 
destiny of his country in its great day of peril. He aided in lead- 
ing her out of her darkness and poverty in her hour of need, and 
conducted her to light and liberty. His maxims are held as oracular 
wherever the English language is spoken, and comprise a safe and 



LETTERS TO A YOUNG TEACHERr 99 

almost complete manual for the conduct of affairs in every station in 

life. 

If endorsers of the propriety of Franklin's gift were wanted, they 
could be found in multitudes among the members of the " Franklin 
Medal Association," with its gifted president * at their head ; whose 
views on the subject have recently been given to the citizens of Bos- 
ton and Philadelphia, — in his admirable address on " Franklin, as a 
Boston Boy," — prepared for the anniversary of the doctor's birth- 
day, the present year ; which views were essentially the same as have 
been unfolded in this letter, and which the writer has held for nearly 
half a century. 

The mode and conditions of the distribution of medals in schools 
admits, I think, of modification, by which their benefit would be 
auo"mented, and the objections to them obviated. Medals and other 
rewards have been awarded annually at the school with which I was 
connected, from the time of its establishment, in 1828, to the present 
day, and continue to form a part of its machinery of discipline ; and, 
in thirty years, I am not aware that they ever occasioned a tear to 
full, or the slightest unhappiness to be felt; — the cause of which, 
probably, is the fact that there was no individual competition con- 
nected with their acquisition. 

There were several grades of these medals, which were bestowed as a 
matter of contract, the evidence of which every pupil had in his own 
possession, in his weekly reports, and by which he could claim, as on a 
note of hand. He was told, at the beginning of the year, that if he 
should be constant and punctual in his attendance at school to its 
close, — if he committed no misdemeanor — " deviation " as it was called 
— or infraction of school-laws, he should receive a silver medal of a 
certain grade ; — this, irrespective of scholarship ; and hence, giving 
that prominence to good behavior, to which it is ever entitled in the 
fitness of things, and encouraging every grade of mind to effort. If 
he was, as above, correct in deportment, punctual, and constant in 
attendance, and had but few deficiencies in lessons, &c., he would 
receive a silver medal of a higher grade. If his merits were still 
more obvious, and his lessons generally perfect, the highest silver 
medal was awarded him. If wholly without fault in these particulars, 
adding thereto entirely perfect lessons for the time, he should receive 
a gold medal. And these were bestowed, at the Annual Exhibition 
at the end of the year, to all — few or many — that complied with 
the terms. The grades of the medals have recently been increased in 

* Hon. Edward Everett. 



100 LETTERS TO A YOUNG TEACHER. 

liumber, to six in all — gold and silver — to make them more equitable, 
according to the amount of school-labor performed. Thus, perfect 
deportment and perfect lessons in the English depaitment are entitled 
to a gold medal ; but these, with the addition of the successful study 
of one more language, claim a higher reward, or gold medal of supe- 
rior value ; which the super-addition of two or more languages suc- 
cessfullj pursued, raises to a claim for a gold medal of the highest 
grade of all. 

This system has proved to be a very efficient instrument in the pro- 
motion of order, diligence, self-control, good-humor and good manners. 
A satisfactory degree of zeal has been enkindled, and is perhaps kept 
alive in the pupils' minds by personal considerations, — although the 
hope of reward is seldom, if ever, adverted to by the teachers, — they 
appealing, on all proper occasions, to the highest motives for manly 
effort. 

The present condition of this school may not be considered as con- 
clusive proof of the propriety or success of this system of rewards ; 
but it may not be amiss to state the fact that, although the school is 
private, unendowed, and unincorporated, and is over thirty years of 
age, it has flourished from the beginning, and never more than now, — 
having an excellent corps of (nine) teachers, and upwards of two hun- 
dred pupils in its ranks. 

Finally, until the human mind shall have undergone some radical 
change in its elements and operations, rewards will continue to be an 
essential means of exciting the young to the ready and cheerful per- 
formance of duty. 

There is another subject which has recently attracted much atten- 
tion among the friends of schools and other philanthropists ; most of 
whom have, as I think, indulged in a one-sided view of it. And 
these are the same individuals who condemn the use of school-rewards. 
With an occasional exception, they are men of theory, who look at 
the matter through the optics of their sympathies and benevolence, — 
and this from their closets ; having little or no practical acquaintance 
with the supposed evil they deplore. Otherwise, they would receive 
with distrust the representations derived from partial sources, or made 
by incompetent judges. This is an error in'to which a zeal for reform 
often leads its votaries — driving them to unreasonable extremes. 
Many persons, under such circumstances, with an honest purpose and 
noble enthusiasm, — forgetting that "one swallow does not make a sum- 
mer," — take for granted that, a single pupil having been injured, or 
reported to have been so, by excessive study, — while five hundred 



^ LETTERS TO A YOUNG TEACHER. 101 

pupils escaped unharmed, under the same course, — the whole system 
of school-lessons, and especially if learnt out of school, is and must 
be wrong, and should be condemned and universally di.-carded. 

It is, however, a remarkable fact, that few teachers of experience 
and judgment, give any practical heed to the attempts of these so- 
called reformers. Being in " loco parentis " to their pupils, they feel 
their responsibleness, and are guided by their knowledge and their 
consciences, in the treatment of the individuals of their charge. If 
thev were to discover that the children were suffering from excessive 
application, they would, doubtless, be the first to apply the remedy. 
Of this I can speak from personal knowledge; and am willing to 
affirm that, in one institution at least, the amount of out-of-school 
study was limited to an extent that could not injure the student ; 
while a standing rule existed, both in school and out, prohibiting all 
labor on lessons, the moment that the eyes began to suffer, or the head 
or brain to ache. Nor can an instance be recalled, in which these 
evils or affections of the nerves were induced by excessive study, with 
the consent of the teachers. Mistakes may sometimes occur ; no doubt 
^^"^ have occurred, and will happen again ; but I have the most im- 
plicit belief that, as a general thing, teachers of schools feel a tender 
regard for their pupils, are desirous of their welfare, and watchful of 
whatever pertains to the health of their bodies as well as the improve- 
ment of their minds. 

Builders of school-houses, at the present time, are solicitous that 
these structures should be arranged on the most philosophical princi- 
ples, — to promote the health and comfort of those who are to occupy 
them, — in the matters of ventilation, the proper degree of heat, com- 
modious desks, chairs, &c. ; while the public supervisors are watchful 
to carry out the contemplated plans. At no tim'e in the history of 
the country has so much been done, in nearly all the States in the 
Union, to promote the comfort of children in schools, as now. For 
these reasons 1 have been induced to offer these remarks, as a 
reply in part to complaints, which, unnoticed, might be thought, by 
those who should not investigate the charges, to be well founded, as 
against a universal evil in the schools. And, still further, I wish to avail 
myself of this opportunity of presenting to the readers of the Journal 
the following sensible extract from the Annual Report, for 1858, of the 
present Principal of Chauncy-Hall School ; in which the subject under 
discussion is judiciously treated, and suggestions made, which, if 
adopted in practice, would probably cause the evils referred to, to 
disappear from the land, while an incalculable good to all ages and 
classes of persons would be introduced among us. I cheerfully en- 



102 LETTERS TO A YOUNG TEACHER. 

dorse every sentiment in it, and recomnaend its perusal to every parent 
under whose eye it may fall. 

" The danger of overtasking the young mind and body by our pres- 
ent systems of education, has formed an exciting topic of discussion 
in our community, during the past year, and a few remarks upon it 
may not be inappropriate here. It is difficult to speak of what is done 
in other schools, or to judge of the effect of systems and arrangements, 
of which the direct working is not seen ; but a few facts and deduc- 
tions from personal reminiscence and experience, may throw some light 
on the subject. 

" If confinement is one of the elements injurious to the pupil's 
health, there has been a great change effected in his fivor during the 
last twenty years. The vacations have expanded from about four 
weeks to eight, nine, and, in the private schools for girls, to thirteen or 
fourteen weeks. Instead of protracting his studies far into the dog- 
days of August, the scholar may be sent to enjoy the renovating influ- 
ences of the country in the month of July. Single holidays are much 
more numerous, both stated and occasional, giving pleasant respite 
from toil. School hours, too, have been essentially shortened ; for- 
merly seven hours a day were devoted to school in summer, while five 
or five and a half are now the limit. Nor is it a fact that so much 
more is accomplished or attempted either in or out of school, as has 
been frequently asserted, and is, perhaps, generally believed. Scholar- 
ship existed twenty years ago, and scholarship did not come without 
labor both in and out of school. It was not supposed that any valua- 
ble mental acquisitions could be made without working for them. The 
Latin and Greek Grammars had to be mastered, and about the same 
amount of preparatory study gone through by the boy who was in- 
tended for a collegiate education. At a somewhat earlier period, 
between the years 1820 and 1830, it was customary for many of the 
pupils of the Latin School in this city, to attend private intermediate 
schools between the morning and afternoon sessions, in order to give 
more attention to Writing, Spelling, Heading, &c., than the course at 
the public institution permitted. The writer well remembers rushing 
in hot haste from the old Latin School-house in School-street to the 
neighboring shades of Harvard Hall, to spend two additional hours ; 
and never sees his venerated teachers of those days without internally 
thanking them for what they required him to do in this double pro- 
cess of school education. Many of the boys of that day still live to 
bear witness that they were not crushed by the labor, and, in fact, did 
not feel themselves particularly aggrieved by it. They, as well as 
their parents, accepted school and its requisitions as a sort of fate, 



LETTERS TO A YOUNG TEACHER. 103 

not to be struggled against or repined at. If the advantages were 
wanted, the price was to be paid. 

" Boys were, undoubtedly, sick in those days, as they have always 
been, whether in school or out of school, in city or country; but their 
sicknesses were referred to natural causes. That there was less of a 
low and feeble state of the system, is probably a fact, for which abun- 
dant reasons exist in the modes of life and of bringing up children 
now prevalent. The popular error seems to lie in making school re- 
sponsible for what results from other causes, and in supposing that 
health and vigor would exist if school and its requisitions were out 
of the wa}". Certainly some forms of life and occupation can be im- 
agined that would give a higher degree of health and strength than 
any city or sedentary pursuit. But can these be obtained, as a gen- 
eral thing, by boys considered feeble or delicate, even supposing they 
had sufficient stamina to embrace them? Cut a boy off from school 
in a large city or its vicinity, and what is to become of him? He 
will be obliged to lounge listlessly at home the greater part of the 
time, absolutely suffering for healthy mental occupation ; or, going 
abroad to seek companions or excitement, he is liable to form asso- 
ciations of the worst class, or to yield to the many temptations that 
present themselves on every side. Seldom will a greater amount of 
air and exercise be taken than might be enjoyed in connection with 
attendance at school ; while habits of application and regularity may 
be irretrievably injured. It is to be hoped, therefore, that the parents 
of feeble children will try the other means in their power of improv- 
ing their health, before depriving them of the great advantage of early 
training and instruction, and not continue in a permanent state of dis- 
satisfaction with school, as if it were necessarily a hardship or delete- 
rious influence. Before we can see a general and high state of health 
in our schools and universities, there must be a change in the habits 
of our community, and in nothing more than in the prevalent modes 
of bringing up children. The influences of climate, so much dwelt 
upon b}^ medical writers, we shall have to bear. If we suffer from 
being an unacclimated race, it will take many generations to brino- 
about a change ; we can only resist its influences by such means as 
are in our power. More simplicity, more hardihood, more true man- 
liness, are wanted in both young and old. Luxury and effeminacy are 
fast unstringing both the bodily and mental nerves of that portion of 
our people considered the most highly favored. 

" Where circumstances do not compel the practice of self-denial, 
resolution and perseverance, to overcome the physical necessities of 
life, those stern teachers which have developed so many strong and 



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104 LETTERS TO A YOUNG TEACHER. 



manly natures, education must aim at a similar result. Simplicity of 
food and clothing will have as favorable an effect upon the children of 
the rich, when enforced as a matter of principle, as if compulsory. 
The early hours and habits of steady labor of the children of toil, can 
be imitated by those who have the privilege of practising them in fur- 
therance of the nobler object of gaining an education. Where the desire 
for play does not lead to habits of healthy exercise, it is the duty of 
parents to see that it is taken in some of those forms which even city 
life admits. The use of tobacco and other hurtful stimulants must 
not be learned. In fine, the body must be made to keep its place and 
do its work as a good servant, and not pampered and flattered till it 
leads the mind whithersoever it will, and compels it to do its bidding. 

" In accomplishing these objects, parents will find, that, if they add 
example to precept, the effect will be greatly increased. It is of little 
use for a full-grown man to talk to a child of the importance of air 
and exercise, if he never stirs from the fireside or the desk. It is his 
part to lead the way in the good path. A father who takes his son 
to walk, to ride, to row, to swim, to skate, shows that he believes what 
he preaches, and is disposed to reap the beneff ts of exercise in his own 
person. So, too, in abstinence from injurious practices. It is of very 
little use to reprobate the habit of smoking, for instance, and yet set 
the example of it himself. It is one of the responsibilities of pater- 
nity, that cannot be shaken off or got over, to do the thing that we 
wish the child to learn. Anything short of this, so far as circum- 
stances permit, is less than the duty of a father. 

" These remarks are equally applicable to the weightier matters, 
affecting not merely the outward well-being, but the spiritual welfare 
of the child. He must be directly taught those things which lead to 
eternal life, and guided into the narrow path, by parental example. 
The channel of communication must be kept open, and the workings 
and tendencies of the young soul not suffered to hide themselves. The 
watchful parent will make himself acquainted with the good and evil 
tendencies of his child, and will make it his first duty to cultivate the 
one and restrain the other." 



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